Tower of Dreams
by Lady Raion
Summary: AU Squinoa. Between her cruel, heartless father and her upcoming forced marriage, things couldn't get much worse for Princess Rinoa. Or could they? Another horrible event in her life might just turn out to be the blessing she's been wishing for.THE END
1. A Night to Remember

Disclaimer: I wished I owned Squaresoft. I really wished I owned Squall. But, unfortunately, I don't own either. So don't sue me. If you do, all you're getting is some pocket lint and a few pennies.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The palace was stretched over miles and miles of land. It was built of light gray stone that glittered in the sunlight. It had green fields, crystal clear rivers, and thick forests to contrast its bustling square and tall, looming towers.  
  
The square was located in the center of all the other buildings and was decorated with fountains and beautiful flowers. This was where most of the social activities took place. There, and at the banquet hall.  
  
Across the square from the front building, was Emperor Caraway's wing of the palace. This is where his rooms were located.  
  
Behind it was a tall tower that rose high above the rest of the palace. This is where Princess Rinoa had her rooms.  
  
Over bridges located on eith side of the square were long, rectangular buildings where the public and guest bed rooms were.  
  
At the far ends of these buildings were staircases that twisted in a beautiful maze and eventually led to long, arched bridges that led over glistenening rivers to Rinoa's garden, which surrounded her tower.  
  
Per haps one of the most appealing things about the palace, or perhaps one of the most awful, depending on your point of view, was that the entire land was enclosed by a tall wall. To some, it gave a feeling of security. To the young, beautiful Princess Rinoa, it gave a feeling of imprisonment.  
  
That day, in the square, there was more hustle and bustle than usual. The staff of the palace was busy getting ready for a grand celebration that would take place that evening. It was the engagement party of Princess Rinoa and Sir Seifer Almasy.  
  
As Rinoa stood in the sewing room of her tower, allowing the seamstresses to add the finishing touches to her dress, she struggled to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over.  
  
"Princess," one of her servants said. "Your father is here."  
  
Rinoa bit her lip. He wasn't going to make this easy on her, was he?  
  
"Rinoa!" her father said as he entered. "I just came to see how your dress for the evening was coming along. You must look your best. Not only for Sir Almasy, but also for the other guests that will be here."  
  
"Emperor," Rinoa began. "I need to speak to you. In private."  
  
"Very well, then," he replied and dismissed the seamstresses from their work. Once they left, Emperor Caraway said, "I know what you're going to say, Rinoa. I've already told you that it makes no difference. Sir Almasy is a good match for you. He can give you the discipline you need. And he comes from a powerful family. It's a good political marriage."  
  
"I hate you!" Rinoa shouted. "You don't give a damn about what I want! I can't stand Seifer Almasy! You know that. Why must you do this to me?!"  
  
"Because I love you and I want what's best for you. Almasy is an excellent warrior and very rich. You should be happy."  
  
"He treats me as if I'm on a lower level than him just because I'm female."  
  
Caraway laughed. "Yes, well, I see he has a proper mind set. It will do you goo to be his wife. It will put you in your place."  
  
Rinoa narrowed her eyes and stepped down from the stool where she had stood and crossed the room to stare directly into her father's eyes.  
  
"And what would you do if I ran away?" she asked in a low, menacing voice. "What would that do to your precious image?"  
  
"If you ran away, I would send every warrior I have out to find you, and would not rest until you were back here and married to Almasy."  
  
"I hate you," she repeated.  
  
"I know. But do you really think I care?"  
  
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(I need to get out of here) Rinoa thought as she watched the couples dancing across the square. She was supposed to be out there dancing with Seifer, but he was busy flirting with all the single women he came across. She didn't mind. So long as he left her alone.  
  
She spotted her father heading toward her with a group of people, and quickly ran the other way. She hated to talk to her father's boring political acquaintences.  
  
She climbed the staircases until she reached the bridge leading to her tower. When she came to a stop, she realized there was already someone standing there. A man dressed in dark clothes with untidy brown hair stood with his back to her. At the sound of her approaching footsteps, he turned to face her.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said to him. "I didn't realize there was someone already here."  
  
"It's alright," he said in a low, smooth voice that sent chills up her spine.  
  
She edged closer to him and glanced up at the shining stars and full moon above.  
  
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" she said casually.  
  
"I guess you could say that."  
  
A few moments stretched on in agonizing silence before Rinoa finally said. "So. I guess you're not the talkative type."  
  
".........."  
  
She laughed. "Yep. That confirms it. So. Wanna dance?"  
  
"Don't know how."  
  
"That's a shame," she replied. "I guess you never take your..... girlfriend out dancing?"  
  
".....I don't have a girlfriend."  
  
Rinoa struggled to hide the grin that was beginning to grace her features. Then it occured to her that he might have wife.  
  
"Oh, I see. What about your wife, then? She doesn't mind that you can't dance?"  
  
He seemed not to notice that she was prying for information. "......I don't have a wife either."  
  
She grinned. "I see. That's a bit surprising."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You just seemed like the type of guy that would have girls falling all over him," she said while taking in his features.  
  
He just shrugged and turned away to hide his blush. "If you say so."  
  
She smiled. "Maybe I can teach you how to dance. That way you won't dissapoint your future girlfriend or wife."  
  
"No."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, you're going to whether you like it or not," she said determindly as she took his hand and put it on her waist, and took his other in her own.  
  
"I'm not doing this," he said, but made not attempt to pull away.  
  
Her grin widened as she said, "Yes. You are."  
  
She then began doing the movements of the dance, spinning and twisting in perfect rhythm to the distant music.  
  
The dance ended up with her dipped in his arms and their lips just centimeters apart.  
  
"You lied. You can dance," she said in a soft whisper, her lips brushing his with every movement.  
  
"So?" he asked as a slight tremor ran through him at the contact between them. He had never been so close to anyone before.  
  
She didn't answer. Instead she closed the small gap between them.  
  
He wanted to pull away. His mind was begging him to. But the softness of her lips against his was a far greater feeling than he could've ever expected. He couldn't bring himself to pull away.  
  
Suddenly, fireworks erupted overhead, disturbing them from their kiss.  
  
"Oh no!" Rinoa exclaimed and broke away from his embrace. "I'm sorry. It was...um ..... nice meeting you! I.... have to go."  
  
With that, she gave a quick wave and ran from the bridge back to the square.  
  
He watched her as she left, then, shaking his head, turned back to the river underneath the bridge.  
  
Sometime later, as the party was winding down, he left the bridge and walked back to the square where he spotted someone he was looking for. He was dancing with a girl with a pigtail.  
  
"Zell," he called to him. "It's almost time."  
  
The short blonde man bid the girl farewell, and walked up to him.  
  
"Where's Irvine?" he asked.  
  
Zell grinned. "You know Irvine. He's got some woman he's making out with in the banquet hall."  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Well, go get him. We're making our move soon."  
  
Zell gave a salute. "Yessir! By the way. D'ya meet anyone special? You know. Like a girl?"  
  
"That's none of your business."  
  
Zell shook his head. "Squall, man. We were supposed to have fun and losen up at this party before we had to complete our mission. I don't guess you've ever done such a thing though, right? I mean, exactly how far up your ass is that stick?"  
  
"Zell?"  
  
"Yeah, Squall?"  
  
"Do you value your head?"  
  
"Point taken. I guess I'll go get Irvine, now."  
  
"Good."  
  
About ten minutes later, the three men were gather in front of the tower.  
  
"So this is it? We're going for it?" Irvine asked.  
  
Squall nodded. "Yeah. Let's get some where that we won't be spotted so easily. I don't think the Princess is here yet, but she should be along shortly. It wouldn't do for us to be standing out here like idiots, now would it?"  
  
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After the party, Rinoa stumbled off to her tower, tired and worn. The fireworks had been an idication that it was time for the formalities to begin. All the toasts and well-wishings to the "happy" new couple.  
  
Not once that night did she see that man from the bridge again. She wished she had. She also wished she had asked him his name.  
  
As she approached the entrance of her tower, she saw Seifer standing there as if he was waiting for her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.  
  
He frowned at her. "I saw you with that man. On the bridge. I saw you kiss him."  
  
"So what's it to you?" she asked in a challenging tone.  
  
He grabbed her roughly by her upper arm and slammed her against the wall of the tower.  
  
"You listen to me and listen good. I am your fiance. That means you are to respect me and obey me. You will not make a fool out of me! Understood?! You will remain faithful to me!"  
  
"And what of your faithfulness? You think I don't know that you're ready and willing to fuck any short-skirted floozy that walks by?" she shot back as she winced in pain from his nails digging into her arm.  
  
"It doesn't matter what I do. Or who or how many I sleep with. I will do as I please. And you are not to say a word. Understood?"  
  
"I hate you!" Rinoa hissed and slapped him across the face with her free hand.  
  
He let go of her arm and slapped her across the face so hard she fell to the ground. "You're not a princess. You're spoiled little whore. You ever hit me again, and I'll get my Gunblade after you."  
  
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Rinoa to pick herself up off the ground and stumble off to her room.  
  
"Man, that was harsh," Zell whispered from his hiding place behind a rose bush.  
  
They were close enough that they had witnessed the scene and heard the harsh conversation, but not close enough to see the Princess's face or features.  
  
"No kidding," Irvine replied. "I didn't think you could treat the Princess like that."  
  
"Eough!" Squall said as he saw the light in her room go off. "It's time."  
  
"Good luck, Squall," Zell said as Squall moved from behind the bushes.  
  
Squall scaled the side of the tower until he got to the balcony outside of the Princess's room. When he got there, he hid aroung the side and peeked in through the white sheer curtains that hung from the top of the balcony. No one was there.  
  
He was a bit confused at first, but then he saw the light coming out from beneath a door in her room, and figured she was probably in the bathroom or something. He would just have to wait.  
  
When, at last, she entered the room again, she was covered only by a towel. The water clinging to her body glistened in the moon light, which was the only source of light in the room.  
  
As she crossed the room, her towel fell open and fluttered to the ground. Squall quickly averted his eyes, but not before getting an eyeful.  
  
He felt his cheeks grow hot, and the image flashed repeatedly through his mind, against his will. Not that he minded.  
  
When he looked up again, she was dressed in a short, white satin nightgown with a sheer robe over it. She had turned on a dim lamp and was sitting at a vanity brushing her hair.  
  
Squall turned away again, feeling a wave of nervousness rise in him. This was the first time he had ever done this type of thing.  
  
He heard a soft click and turned to see that the lamp had been turned off. She was now crossing the room to her bed.  
  
Squall took a deep breath, and cautiously snuck into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible.  
  
He grabbed her around the waist with one arm from behind, and clamped his other hand over her mouth, muffling her scream. She bit down on his hand, but was dissapointed to taste leather instead of blood.  
  
Squall shoved a gag in her mouth and bound her wrists with a rope as he moved her toward the back door. On the other side of it, was a small balcony. He opened the door and looked over the edge to see Irvine standing uneasily on the ground below, waiting there as planned.  
  
Squall picked her up in her arms and jumped to the roof of the porch below. He then tossed her down to Irvine, who caught her, and waited for Squall to jump down.  
  
Once everyone was safe and secure on the ground, Irvine whistled and Zell came around from the front where he had been watching out for anyone approaching. The three men, and the captured princess then fled to the forest behind the tower. They traveled through the forest until the came to a large wall.  
  
This wall was the one that enclosed the palace. The one that kept out the rest of the world. Most people had seen the world, and didn't like what it had to offer, and so were glad for the wall. But Rinoa had never been outside of that wall. She had never been allowed to experience the real world, though she had always longed to. Despite her unfortunate posisition, she still felt a wave of satisfaction swell in her at finally being able to go outside that dreaded wall.  
  
On the other side of it, an empty carriage was waiting for them. Squall, who had been carrying Rinoa, opened the door, shoved her inside, and got in after her. Zell and Irvine took over the job of driving.  
  
Once Squall knew they were safe and moving, he turned back to the Princess who he was now seeing for the first time in light. He was quite surprised to find that it was the same girl that he had danced with on the bridge.  
  
"It's you!" he exclaimed as he removed her gag.  
  
"No shit," she replied angrily. "Who the hell did you think I was?!"  
  
"I didn't know you were Princess Rinoa," he said.  
  
She shook her head in exasperation. "Didn't you pay any attention to anything at the party?"  
  
"I was on that bridge for most of the party," he exclaimed. "I'm sorry, but your father's parties are extremely boring. Parties aren't my thing anyway."  
  
Rinoa laughed. "Well, you do have a point about my father's parties."  
  
"You can laugh even when you're being kidnapped?"  
  
She shrugged. "Why not? I mean, you guys aren't planning to kill me are you?"  
  
He shook his head. "No. We didn't kidnap you just for the hell of it, you know. We're only mercenaries. We were hired."  
  
"By who?"  
  
"Your father's worst enemy. Emperor Chu Yun."  
  
Rinoa's jaw dropped. Maybe these guys didn't plan to hurt her, but Emperor Chu Yun was not known for his kindness. Especially not with his enemies. Her mother's dark fate was a good example. She had been captured once when the palace was attacked. She was taken away to Chu Yun's palace and totured for all the military information she had. Once they had gotten all from her that they could, they killed her and placed her head one a spike lining the palace wall in a cruel example of Chu Yun' power.  
  
At the memory of this, Rinoa shut her eyes tightly and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to overtake her.  
  
"From one hell to another," she muttered.  
  
Squall frowned. "We're not going to hurt you."  
  
"I know," she said, her voice cracking. "But he will. Just like my mother."  
  
Squall sighed and looked out the window. He couldn't watch her cry like that. He might start to feel sympathetic. He realized he had fallen into a difficult situation. He had never been the ruthless type. He could never bring himself to slaughter innocent women and children and not think twice about, like most men in his profession. It wouldn't be easy for him to deliver this girl to Chu Yun, for he knew what her fate would be. So he decided he'd just try not to think about it, and keep himself at a distance. But he'd met this girl, already. He'd danced with her. Even kissed her. This was going to be harder than he thought.  
  
"How much is he paying you?" Rinoa asked suddenly.  
  
"Plenty," he replied, still not looking at her.  
  
She nodded, "That's good. Put lots of food on the table. Glad to hear that. I suppose all that gil will make it worth while, huh?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Kidnapping me, giving me to some ruthless tyrant like Chu Yun. The gil justifies it, right?"  
  
"It's my job. It's what I do. Who are you to say what's right and wrong? Just because you're a princess doesn't mean you have a right to judge other people's morals."  
  
She narrowed her eyes. "In this case, I feel I have everyright in the world to judge. I'm the one being kidnapped after all."  
  
"Whatever," he grumbled and returned to looking out the window.  
  
"Think you can get off that easy? Well, you're going to be stuck with me for a while, and rest assured, I won't hesitate to tell you what I think of you."  
  
"Look," he began angrily. "Maybe when you were in your palace, it was alright to be a spoiled little brat. But I'm not going to tolerate it. You might as well just shut your mouth and enjoy your final days."  
  
Rinoa turned away then, feeling the tears again. This was awful. Absolutely terrible. She thought maybe she could reach him. But it was obvious that he had no heart.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said in a softer tone.  
  
She shook her head. "Forget it. I don't expect a mercenary to take pity on me. Just leave me alone for the rest of the trip."  
  
"Fine by me," he replied coldly.  
  
Sometime later, after Rinoa had fallen asleep, the carriage came to a stop. Rinoa opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Squall was still awake, and still staring out the window.  
  
He turned to her and said, "We've reached camp. Let's get out."  
  
She didn't speak a word to him, even as he helped her out of the carriage. Not even when he tied the rope around her wrists again. Instead she focused on her new surroundings. They were in the middle of a forest. There were a few other people there, who had set up tents and built a large fire.  
  
As he pushed her gently along, a young woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes approached them. She had three small hoop earrings in each ear, and a deck of tarot cards in her hand. She was obviously a gypsy.  
  
"Hey there, Squall," she said in a flirtatious voice while she smiled sweetly. "How are things going?"  
  
"Fine, Quistis," he answered then shoved Rinoa lightly toward her. "Please let her borrow some of your clothes. She'll freeze to death in what she's wearing."  
  
"Anything for you," she replied and pushed Rinoa toward one of the tents.  
  
The tent was rather empty, with only a small pile of blankets for a bed, a small table with a crystal ball, and a trunk full of clothes and weapons. Quistis opened the trunk and started digging through it until she had produced a long, satin, midnight blue skirt, a white, lacey shirt, and a red shawl with a pair of worn, scuffed brown boots.  
  
She handed the pile of clothes to Rinoa and untied the ropes from around her wrist.  
  
"Now, I'm gonna go stand right outside this tent while you get dressed," she said. "But first, I need to tell you something very important." Suddenly her tone became threatening as she said, "You had better stay away from Squall. He's mine, you hear?"  
  
Rinoa laughed. "If you say so."  
  
Quistis sneered down at her. "I mean it, you little brat! I saw the way he was looking at you. You may be some pretty, young little princess, but he's mine! He loves ME, even if he doesn't know it yet."  
  
Rinoa was still stuck on the first part. "What do you mean, the way he was looking at me?"  
  
"He's mine. You better not cause any trouble. I'll put a curse on your pretty little head that will carry down to your great, great grandkids. Got it?"  
  
Rinoa nodded and resisted the urge to laugh again. "I got it. You can have. I sure as hell don't want him."  
  
Quistis smiled sincerely. "Good to see we have an understanding. Sorry I had to be so mean, but I gotta protect what's mine, you know. Lots of women are after him. Can't blame them, though."  
  
"Yeah, he does look very handsome, if you don't mind my saying so. He's just the most cold, heartless, uptight man I've ever met."  
  
"Amen sister!" Quistis said with a laugh. "Now, I'll leave you alone to get dressed. Just come out when you're ready."  
  
"Alright," Rinoa replied. "Thanks."  
  
Rinoa dressed quickly, trying to ignore the fact that the clothes were a bit too big for her. Quistis several inches taller than her and had bigger feet than she did.  
  
As she was putting on one of the boots, she felt something cold and hard hit her foot. She reached her hand into the boot and pulled out a small but sharp folded knife. She examined it for a moment then put it back in the boot and stuck her foot in. She decided that the knife would come in handy. She could use it to escape late that night. And the boot was big enough that she could keep it in there without it hurting her foot.  
  
A few moments later, Rinoa came out. She had to admit, it was getting very cold, and she felt a lot warmer in Quistis's clothes.  
  
"Well, they're a bit big on you, but definately not bad," Quistis commented.  
  
At that moment, Squall walked up to them. "Good. You're properly dressed," he commented. "It wouldn't do for you to catch something and die before we get to Chu Yun's palace."  
  
He knew saying that would make her angry. That's why he said it. She didn't say a word to him. She didn't even look at him. But he could see it in her eyes that he had gotten to her. He felt a slight satisfaction at knowing this.  
  
He took her by the shoulders and began to shove her toward a different tent. This tent was empty, save a few blankets on the floor. Squall forced her onto her knees on the blankets and tied her wrists to her ankles.  
  
(Perfect) Rinoa thought with a grin.  
  
Squall noticed the grin on her face and took a couple steps back to look at her. "Is something funny about this?" he asked.  
  
She didn't answer, and didn't look at him.  
  
"Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"  
  
No reply.  
  
"Suit yourself." He shrugged and started to walk out of the tent. "Get some sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow," he said over his shoulder.  
  
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Several hours later, Rinoa awoke in the big, dark tent. She hadn't meant to go to sleep, but it had been such a tiring day, that she couldn't help it. At least she still had some time before the sun rose to escape.  
  
She slipped the boot of her foot and turned it over so that the knife fell out. She lowered her hand to the ground and felt around until she found the knife. She flipped the blade out and cut through the rope, freeing her wrists.  
  
She stood for the first time in hours, and stretched out her sore arms and legs. She figured her captor had known what kind of pain that position would out her in that morning and had done it on purpose. She cursed him mentally as she peeked out from the tent's flap to see that the camp was quiet, and obviously sleeping.  
  
She snuck out and looked around. The coast was clear.  
  
Rinoa noticed that the sky was becoming lighter by the second. The sun would be up soon. She had to hurry. But what could she do? Certainly, he would check up on her that morning, and discover her missing. He would send search parties out to find her. Just like her father. She couldn't outrun him. Or could she?  
  
The carriage was still parked in the same spot where it had come to a stop last night. It couldn't be too hard to drive a carriage, could it?  
  
She climbed up onto the front and took the reins in her hands. She didn't have much experience with horses, but once again, how hard could it possible be?  
  
She flicked the reins, slapping the horse across the back, and he started moving forward, at a very fast speed. She was jolted back, unprepared for the speed. But at least she was getting somewhere.  
  
As she traveled along the path, she realized that path would eventually lead to Chu Yun's palace. She definately didn't want to go there, so she headed off the path and deeper into the forest. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. She just didn't want to go home or to Chu Yun's palace. She saw this as an oppurtunity to gain the freedom she had always longed for.  
  
The deeper she went into the forest, the more unstable the terrain became. She soon found herself on a path that twisted up the height of a small mountain. This is where everything went wrong.  
  
The horse was still moving at a fast pace despite the length of time he'd been traveling. In fact, he was barely getting around the curves without going over the edge and falling into the river far below.  
  
Rinoa didn't know how to stop him. She had tried everything she could think of, but it all just seemed to make him move faster.  
  
The higher the got on the mountain, the narrower the path got. As they headed around another curve, the wheels on one side of the carriage slipped of the path and were hanging off the edge, slowly taking the rest of the carriage with it.  
  
Rinoa screamed and pulled the reins to the opposite side as hard as she could. The horse jerked in that direction, causing the carriage to slam into the side of the mountain and break open.  
  
The loud noice scared the horse and caused him to rear up, throwing Rinoa off. She fell and rolled right off the edge. She held on for dear life with one arm. Her other one clawed at the side of the mountain, unable to find something to hold on to.  
  
A few moments passed and she wondered how she would ever survive as she looked down at the raging river below her. She was completely alone, save the horse, and it wasn't likely he could save her.  
  
Her life started to flash before her eyes, but was cut short when she felt a hand grab on to her own.  
  
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A/N: Well, there's the first chapter. What do you think? Does it totally suck? I hope not. Anyway, please R&R! My self-esteem is gotten very low lately due to the small number of reviews for my other story, Relfections of Reality. Hope you enjoyed! 


	2. People of the Mountain

Disclaimer: You know I don't own anything, I know I don't own anything. So let's just call it real.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
  
  
A rough, calloused hand grabbed firmly on to Rinoa's own, much to her surprise. She was suddenly being pulled up from the edge of the mountain path.  
  
She suddenly found herself in the arms of her blue-eyed captor as he pulled here up to her feet. He let her go and stumbled back from her. She realized then that he was badly hurt.  
  
"How...?" Rinoa began but didn't get the chance to finish.  
  
"I need...help," he managed to choke out before he started to fall forward.  
  
Rinoa threw her arms around him and tried to catch him, but his weight was too much and carried them both to their knees.  
  
"What happened?!" Rinoa cried, but he didn't answer. It occured to her then that he must have been in the carriage for some reason.  
  
She turned him over to find that he was unconscious and bleeding. There was a small, but thick peice of wood embedded in his side and a shallow gash across his chest. The back of his hair was matted with blood.  
  
"Oh no!" a voice exclaimed from behind Rinoa. "Is he hurt badly?"  
  
Rinoa turned to see a young woman with short brown hair and bright green eyes standing behind her. She was dressed in a plain, dusty brown robe and was being followed by other, similarly dressed people. All of which were shorter than the average person.  
  
"Who are you?" Rinoa demanded.  
  
"We are the mountain people. Can't you tell?"  
  
Rinoa thought for a moment, trying to gather all the information she knew about the mountain people. They were said to be a kind, peaceful people.  
  
"Can you help him?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Of course. Is he very badly hurt?"  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Please! You have to do something fast!"  
  
The girl walked over to Rinoa and looked him over.  
  
"Gosh, this is bad!" she exclaimed then motioned for some of the others to come.  
  
Two men came over and picked him up to carry him away some where.  
  
"Where are you taking him?!" Rinoa demanded.  
  
"Follow me," the girl said. "My name is Selphie. I'm the medicine woman of the mountain people. I'll be the one that takes care of him. They're taking him to the infirmary now."  
  
Selphie led Rinoa the rest of the way up the winding mountain path, until they came to the top. There was a wide door there that was made of stone, so that you could barely tell it was a door and not just the mountain.  
  
On the other side of the door was a narrow tunnel that sloped downward. After a bit of walking, the tunnel came out to a large balcony that was carved out of the mountain wall, which overlooked a vast, open cavern. Below, mountain people could be seen walking to various other tunnels or lifts. Those heading to the lifts carried shovels, picks, drills, and other such tools.  
  
"Our economy is based on the mining of precious gems along with valuable minerals and metals located in this mountain and those surrounding it. We use whatever we can, and trade all the excess," Selphie explained. "We also gather special medical herbs that grow in the valleys. Most of them help to speed up one's recovery. They're very important in my line of work, but are also useful for trade, whenever we have enough."  
  
There was a lift on the side of the balcony that took Rinoa an Selphie down into the cavern. The people there would give a nod or wave of greeting to Rinoa, but didn't stop their traveling. Some didn't even notice the precense of the outsider.  
  
"We're all mostly workaholics here. Very busy people. We want to be polite, but if it interferes with what we're doing, they we just have to forget about it," Selphie said.  
  
Selphie led Rinoa too a tunnel on the other side of the room. The wall next to the tunnel opening was marked with some kind of strange writing. They traveled a short distance through the tunnel until it opened up to a small cavern. There were tables spaced at even distances from each other with small side tables accompanying them. Squall lay on one of the tables toward the back, near a large, oak desk and wooden cabinet.  
  
"It shouldn't take me too long to tend to his wounds. He'll need a while to rest, though. In the mean time, you can go have a look around. Carbuncle, my pet dragon, will be your guide. I suggest going shopping at the market. There are a lot of things here that you can't find anywhere else."  
  
"Sounds good," Rinoa said, half-heartedly. "Are you sure he'll be alright, though?"  
  
Selphie smiled. "Of course. I can practically bring people back from the dead. Or the herbs can, anyway."  
  
With that, she called Carbuncle, who lept out from behind the desk and grinned.  
  
"I'm Carbuncle," he introduced himself in a small, strange voice. "I'll be your guide while you're here. Where would you like to go?"  
  
"I guess I'll go to the market," Rinoa said, thinking it best to take Selphie's advice.  
  
"Follow me, then," he said, bouncing along in front of her.  
  
At any other time, Rinoa would've thought he was cute, but at the time, she was just to worried. Despite that fact that he had kidnapped her, and had the most foul attitude she'd even seen, memories of their first meeting plagued her mind and brought from her a deep sympathy, and even a bit of caring. And something in the back of her mind kept thinking that if he could be so sweet (if you could call it that) on their first meeting, then perhaps he really was, deep down.  
  
Despite these thoughts rapidly churning through her head, she allowed Carbuncle to give her a tour around the small city the mountain people had built. At last, they ended up at the market, which was fairly empty that time of day.  
  
"What do you have an interest in?" Carbuncle asked.  
  
Rinoa shrugged. "Jewelry, I guess. Weapons would be useful, too."  
  
He showed her to a stand with all kinds of beautiful jewelry, including a strange looking necklace with the head of a lion on it. She thought it looked familiar as well as pretty, so decided she would buy it. She had earlier discovered, upon the exploration of the pockets in Quistis's skirt, that there was a rather large wad of gil wrapped up in thin brown paper. So she used that gil to buy the necklace. It was made of a strange, beautiful metal, that she liked.  
  
After that, she was shown to a weapons table. She had decided she would buy something more useful than than the small, folding knife that was still hidden in her boot, but that could be easily hidden. It would make it easier to escape from Squall.  
  
After a bit of browsing, she finally found something to her liking. It was long dagger made of that same strange metal. It had a black handle with deep blue sapphires embedded in it and had a pair of angel wings carved on the blade lengthwise, that were seperated by an artistic design. It came with a black leather scabbard and small strap. After making the purchase, she hooked the strap around her upper thigh so that the dagger was well hidden beneath her long skirt.  
  
She then wandered over to the clothing section, where she got a very rude surprise.  
  
"So, you thought you could escape into the mountains, did you?"  
  
Rinoa stared in disbelief at the soldier in front of her. It was one of her father's top officers.  
  
"Well, Emperor Caraway won't allow this type of behavior. You're coming with us immediately. We'll be resting here, then returning home tomorrow. And you, Princess, will be staying in a room with me," he said, grinning at her as if to imply something.  
  
"You disgusting bastard!" Rinoa exclaimed. "If you dare touch me, my father will have your head!"  
  
He looked at her with both an amused and aroused gleam in his eye. "Oh, Princess. You're so hot when you're angry. Anyway, do you really think your father cares what happens to you? He wouldn't have bothered to come looking for you were you not to be married to Sir Almasy in a week. And Almasy certainly doesn't care what happens to you."  
  
Rinoa started to back away, but the officer grabbed her by the wrist and began placing her hands in places they shouldn't be.  
  
"Come on, Princess. You know you've been waiting for a guy just like me to come along."  
  
"Get off me, you sick, twisted son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed, though didn't managed to gain anyone's attention. They were all too busy.  
  
"Hey! She told you to get off of her!" a voice came from behind Rinoa.  
  
She turned to find Squall, tired looking and bandeged up, standing behind them with his Gunblade drawn.  
  
The soldier laughed, "And just who the hell do you think you are? You're not gonna kick anybody's ass in the state you're in."  
  
"Wanna try me?"  
  
He laughed again. "Sure. This isn't any of your business anyway, punk!"  
  
He motioned for the others that were with him to attack. They all ran at Squall with their various weapons drawn. Meanwhile, the officer himself was still holding on to Rinoa, trying to force her into a kiss.  
  
Squall swung his Gunblade, removing the head off of one of his opponet's shoulders. He then turned around and knocked the sword out of another one's hande before stabbing him through the chest. Down went another.  
  
This unexpected victory caught the young officer's attention. Rinoa took the oppurtunity to knee him in the crotch, which sent him to his knees, crying like a baby.  
  
At that moment, a loud whistle was blown and everything stopped. Selphie walked into the middle of the battle scene, followed by a bunch of armed, rough looking guys.  
  
"This battle must stop immediately!" she exclaimed. "All of you must leave the premises as soon as your wounds have been tended to. We do not tolerate this type of mindless violence."  
  
Squall put his Gunblade away, shrugging. The other, surviving officers, put their weapons away as well and went to stand beside their leader. Rinoa walked away from them as quickly as possible.  
  
"Alright," Selphie said. "Good. You two don't appear to have any new wounds," she said, looking from Squall to Rinoa and back again. The rest of you, however, will be taken to the infirmary."  
  
The tough looking guys that had followed Selphie went over to Caraway's soldiers and began to assist them in getting top the infirmary.  
  
Selphie walked up to Squall. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask that both you and her leave," she said, gesturing toward Rinoa. "I know this probably wasn't your fault, but our customs are against fighting in public."  
  
Squall nodded. "Understood."  
  
"You must be lost," she continued. "I can't imagine any other reason for you to be here. We're a long way away from civilization. I'm afraid that I don't know how to get anywhere. We're rather disconnected from the rest of the world. Even our trading is done when visitors come here, not us there. I can't tell you which way to go, but I know someone who can. If you head east of here, you'll eventually come to a big river. Somewhere along that river will be a small white house. The River Lady lives there. If she likes you, she just might help you."  
  
"River Lady?" Squall repeated.  
  
Selphie nodded. "Yep. She's your best bet. Leave whenever you ready, so long as you're out of here by tomorrow morning. And be careful. Those herbs sped up your recovery drastically, but you're still not completely healed. Have a nice trip!"  
  
Selphie turned and left then, for her presence was required in the infirmary. Meanwhile, Rinoa was trying to push through the gathered crowd to the exit. Yes, there was now an actual crowd. It seemed the only thing that could gain those people's attention was that whistle.  
  
Rinoa was almost home free when she felt a strong hand lock around her wrist. She was turned around and brought face to face with Squall.  
  
"Did you really think you were getting away that easily?"  
  
Rinoa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  
  
"You know, you'd really be amazed at how fast this crowd parts when you have a Gunblade in your hand," he explained.  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him and tried to jerk her wrist away, but failed. She was then a bit starteled when he put a finger to the tip of her tongue and shoved it back into her mouth. She bit down on his finger, and gave him a triumphant look when she tasted blood. His leather gloves were in his pockets this time.  
  
He jerked his finger back and scowled at her. "Do I need to gag you again?"  
  
She turned her head away from him primly, and didn't reply.  
  
"Fine then. I'd prefer you didn't talk. You talk far too much, anyway, and you have the most annoying voice I've ever heard."  
  
Of course he didn't think this was true. Part of him wished she would say something, anything to him. He thought her voice was that of an angel.  
  
At those words, she turned on him, her face flooded with anger. "Oh yeah! Well you're the biggest, ugliest asshole I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on! And... and you smell like a grat!"  
  
Of course she didn't think these things were true either. She thought he was the most gorgeous thing she'd ever set eyes on, though he did act like an asshole. And to her, he smelled far from a grat. His scent was intoxicating to her, threatening to make her lose control. But pride is a powerful force. One that will very often bring to people to say things they know aren't true.  
  
Squall turned to her, a scowl darkening his features. "Just shut up and start moving," he growled.  
  
He began to pull her forward, but stopped when he saw a stand that sold chains made of that same glittering, nearly indestructable metal. He bought a fairly descent sized one, then continued dragging Rinoa along. She was tempted to ask what his intentions were with it, but remembered his order and decided that for once, she actually wanted to obey.  
  
The two left the mountian people's city behind, knowing they had a long journey ahead them. Since they both refused to speak to the other, they were left with only their thoughts to keep them entertained.  
  
(Does he really think I talk to much? And that I have an annoying voice?) Rinoa thought.  
  
(Does she really think I'm ugly?) Squall thought, running a hand through his hair, self-consiously. (I know I can act like an asshole. Does she really think I smell bad? And does she honestly think I'm the most ugly man she's ever seen?) The image of Rinoa crossing her room in the darkness, allowing her towel to flutter to the ground flashed through his mind. (Well, compared to her, I'm nothing. She must have guys throwing themselves at her all the time. In fact, she's probably got some other guy on her mind at this very moment.)  
  
(I wonder if he's actually attatched to anyone) she thought. (I mean, Quistis says that she's his... but. Does he really hate the way I talk? How does he think I look? Does he think I look better than her?)  
  
(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)( ~)(~)(~)(~)  
  
When it started to get dark, Squall decided that it was time they stopped traveling. They had come to a clearing in the forest, that would've made a nice place for a camp. If they had any supplies for a camp, that is.  
  
Rinoa was tempted to ask Squall what they were going to do, but in all the time they had been traveling, neither had broke their vow of silence. She didn't intend to be the first.  
  
"We'll just have to make do," Squall said at last. "This place seems fairly safe, anyway. So, I'll leave you here for a moment so you can do whatever you have to do to get ready for sleep," he said and walked out of the clearing.  
  
She grinned to herself and started to walk to the other side of the clearing.  
  
"And don't bother trying to run away. You won't get very far," Squall called from the darkness of the surrounding forest. "You have five minutes. Make good use of them."  
  
"Damn you!" Rinoa hissed in a low voice that she thought couldn't be heard.  
  
"I heard that," he called.  
  
"Did you?" Rinoa asked sarcastically. "Okay then. I'm sorry. What I should really say is, fuck you!"  
  
Silence. She grinned, satisfied, then wondered if maybe, he was watching her. After all, she couldn't see into the darkness of the forest. The wild thought ran through her head that she might could seduce him into letting her go. But no, she wouldn't have to do that. She could easily get away while he was sleeping tonight.  
  
She slid her boots off and placed them at the edge of the clearing, then finished her other business. Afterward she called to Squall that she was finished.  
  
He came back into the clearing with the chain ready in his hand.  
  
"Exactly what do you intend to do with that?" Rinoa demanded.  
  
He grabbed her around the wrist and wound the chain in a knot around her wrist, then knotted the other end around his own. There was still a good bit of length between the two ends, but now there was no chance of her escaping.  
  
"I'll sleep on this end, you sleep on that end," he said, walking as far away from her as he could.  
  
She silently cursed him as she walked to her end. Once again, he had managed to ruin her plans.  
  
"You know something?" she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"Do you think I care?"  
  
"You don't care about anything!" she cried out suddenly. "You'd slaughter a child if someone gave you gil for it!"  
  
He was silent for a moment then said, "Just shut up and go to sleep."  
  
"You may be able to chain me down, but you can't tell me what to do," she shot back. "You don't anything to use for a gag this time."  
  
"I'll bust all your teeth out if I have to."  
  
"You're welcome to come over here and try."  
  
"Is that a threat?"  
  
"What the hell does it sound like, a compliment? If you'd prefer, I'll come over there."  
  
"Just shut up, dammit! I'm tired of hearing your shit!"  
  
"Ugly ass son-of-a-bitch," Rinoa muttered as she felt tears come to her eyes.  
  
(You will NOT let him get to you) she thought.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when Squall suddenly asked, "Why were you trying to get away from your father's soldiers?"  
  
"You knew they were my father's soldiers?"  
  
"Yeah. It wasn't hard to tell since they were all decked out in uniform."  
  
Rinoa sighed. "I don't want to go back to my father. I hate him. He never cared about what happened to me. And I hate everything about the palace I lived in. I don't want to go back. I wouldn't mind staying here forever. If you weren't trying to deliver me to a killer, that is."  
  
She realized suddenly what she had implied and cursed herself. She hadn't meant to put it that way. Had she?  
  
"Here?" he asked in a near whisper. "With..." he didn't finish his sentence.  
  
Her early thought came back to her mind. He was showing weakness. This was her oppurtunity. She had to take it.  
  
She stood slowly and walked over to him, careful not to let the chain rattle. The next thing Squall knew, she was kneeling down beside him, so close to him that he could feel her breath on his lips.  
  
"What-" he started to ask, but was cut off when she pressed her lips to his. Memories of the party rushed back to him, stealing away his will to pull away from her.  
  
She brushed her tongue across his lips, begging for entrance. He complied happily and moaned into her mouth at the feeling. She ran her hands up his shirt and over his chest, losing herself in the feel of him. Suddenly she cared nothing about getting away from him. That was the last place she wanted to be.  
  
He wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled over, so that he was on top of her.  
  
He sat up, never breaking their kiss, and she propped herself up on one arm, using the other to run through his silky brown hair. He ran his hand from her ankle to her knee, then eased up her blue satin skirt, allowing his hand to ride up her bare thigh. He broke away from her lips and started down her neck, just as his hand hit the scabbard of her new knife.  
  
Rinoa gasped, and his eyes fluttered open. He suddenly pulled the knife out and raised it over his head, bringing it down on someone or something behind Rinoa.  
  
(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)( ~)(~)(~)  
  
A/N: Sorry I kept you waiting so long. Things always seem to get in the way of my writing. Well, I know there's probably no one reading this, but incase someone is, do you think this is getting too trashy? Or are the romance scenes okay? Does it totally suck? Please R&R!!!! 


	3. Lady in Black

Disclaimer: Do we really have to go over this again?  
  
A/N: I'd like to dedacate this chapter to Yunalesca, who's been a major inspiration. Thank you so much to those who are reading this!!!! I'll shut up now.....  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Squall pulled the dagger back and someone dropped to the ground behind Rinoa.  
  
"What the hell?!" Rinoa exclaimed. She and Squall scrambled of the ground and turned to face their attacker.  
  
A older looking woman with long black hair and a black dress lay on the ground with blood dripping from a wound in her left shoulder. She was gripping a small battle-ax in her hand.  
  
"Who is that?!" Rinoa demanded.  
  
Squall shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just leave."  
  
Rinoa nodded and quickly slipped on her boots before Squall led her away.  
  
"By the way," he added as they left, "nice dagger. I think I'll hold on to it for a little while, if you don't mind."  
  
"And if I do mind?"  
  
"Too bad," he said and stopped walking. He turned to face Rinoa and wrapped his arm around her waist.  
  
"What are you doing?" Rinoa asked shakily.  
  
He leaned down and lifted her skirt, once again, dragging his hand to her thigh.  
  
"Squall," she said breathlessly.  
  
He unhooked the leather strap that had held her dagger and pulled it off her leg. "I'm keeping this, too," he said, holding it up. "Next thing I know, you'll be coming up behind me trying to strangle me with it."  
  
She grinned. "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the idea."  
  
"I'm glad you find it amusing. But I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on. So don't think you'll be pulling another little stunt like that."  
  
She put on her best innocent face. "What? I wasn't going to do anything?"  
  
"Yeah, I bet. You were just waiting for me to turn my back so you could stab me through the heart, right?"  
  
She grabbed onto his arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Of course not. I wouldn't do that to you."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
A wicked grin came over her face that couldn't be seen in the darkness. She leaned her head up until her mouth was right next to his ear. "You're too good of a kisser," she whispered.  
  
Though she couldn't see his blush, she felt the heat from it when she placed a small kiss on his cheek. "You know you look really cute when you blush like that," she commented.  
  
He shoved her off his arm. "Whatever."  
  
"Hey!" she exclaimed playfully. "I'm cold, and you're so warm!"  
  
"Too bad."  
  
"You're a real jerk, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Wanna tell me something I don't know?"  
  
"Alright then. You're.... the worst kidnapper that ever lived."  
  
"I'm beginning to agree with you," he replied. "Anything you want to add to that?"  
  
"Umm.... let's see....."  
  
"How about, to perceptive to fall for your tricks," he said.  
  
She frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
He stopped walking and looked at her seriously. "I know what you're trying to do. I know that you think you can weaken me by making me think you like me. Sorry, but it's not going to work," he told her harshly and began walking again.  
  
She grabbed him by the arm and turned him around to face her. "What makes you think that?"  
  
He narrowed his eyes. "Sorry to ruin your plan, but I know it's not possible that you actually want me. The only other reason you could be doing this is to get your freedom."  
  
"Why do you think it's not possible?"  
  
He jerked his arm away from her. "Because it's not," he growled and walked away from her. "Now I'd appreciate it if you shut up. I haven't had any sleep and I might just decide I've had enough of you and kill you. I can easily dump your body in a swamp some where."  
  
Rinoa was starteled by his sudden change of attitude. Had she really been that easy to see through? How would she escape now?  
  
As these thoughts ran through her head over and over again, another thought constantly interrupted her. Why did he think it wasn't possible that she would want him? What was he so angry about? Rinoa knew it had hurt him for some reason, though he had tried to cover it up with anger. But she could see through it. She couldn't help but wish she could do something about it.  
  
She followed after him in silence, wondering about him and what went on beyond those ethreal blue eyes of his.  
  
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)  
  
Some time after daylight, Squall and Rinoa came across a small white house sitting next to a large river.  
  
"This looks like the place Selphie was talking about," Squall commented, breaking his night-long silence.  
  
He walked up to the small wooden door, which was painted white, and knocked softly. There was no answer, so he banged harder on the door, and it slowly creaked open.  
  
"Is it just me, or does this place have a bad aura?" Rinoa commented.  
  
Squall didn't answer, but slowly stepped inside. The inside of the house was bright and airy, though old. The white-painted walls were chipping, and the air was thick with dust. The few peices of furniture that were in the room, including a sofa, a small chair, and a short table, were covered by dusty white sheets with faded floral patterns.  
  
There was a large window in the wall oposite the door. It was covered by sheer, off-white curtains that allowed the sunlight to flow in and swallow the room with its light.  
  
"Hello!" Squall called as he walked into the room. "Is there anybody here?!"  
  
No one answered. Squall walked further into the room and looked around with Rinoa not too far behind him.  
  
"Hello!" he yelled again.  
  
Once again, no answer. The place seemed entirely empty.  
  
"Selphie said that some one would be here," Rinoa pointed out with a puzzled expression. "I wonder what happened."  
  
"More than likely, neither her nor her people have been been here for awhile," Squall replied. "Maybe the River Lady died."  
  
"You don't think.... that woman that snuck up on us last night was the River Lady... do you?"  
  
He shrugged. "Who knows? I assumed the River Lady was hospitable, though. Maybe she just died of old age."  
  
"Well, what do we do now?"  
  
He shrugged again and crossed the room to a door in the wall. He pushed it open carefully to reveal an abandoned bed room. There was a large, four post bed up against the nearby wall, and a wooden wardrobe across from it. An antique mirror hung next to the wardrobe. It was cracked across the bottom and coated with dust and dirt.  
  
"This place is completely empty," Squall sighed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for us to stay here."  
  
"Good," Rinoa said and flung herself sideays over the bed with a yawn. "I'm awfully tired."  
  
"I suppose our little adventure has tired the princess?" Squall commented harshly.  
  
She lifted her head to look at him. "You're just as tired as I am. You're just too proud to admit it."  
  
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Is that all you EVER say?"  
  
He sat down on the bed beside her and looked down at the smiling girl. "I say whatever I think will get you to shut up."  
  
"And has 'whatever' ever helped before?"  
  
"Nothing shuts you up," he pointed out gruffly.  
  
She leaned up and looked at him closely for a moment. She tried to memorize his features, his lips, his eyes. Then the diagnol scar across his forehead caught her eye. She reached up and gently ran her fingers over it.  
  
"What happened?" she asked.  
  
He pushed her hand away. "None of your business."  
  
"Did someone hurt you?"  
  
"What do you care?"  
  
Rinoa sighed. "You know, it won't hurt you to talked to me once in awhile."  
  
"What's this from you all of a sudden? Last night you were cussing me out and biting me and now you're trying to talk to me? Is this another tactic of your's?"  
  
Rinoa stood from the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well excuse me for trying to help!"  
  
"I don't need your help!"  
  
"Get the fuck out of my room, ass hole!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Your room?! Have you lost your mind? This isn't anybody's room!"  
  
"I'm sleeping in here, and you're sleeping out there!" she said, pointing to the door that led to the main room. "Now get out! I don't want someone who's so much of a jerk in my room."  
  
"Whatever," he muttered and started to walk out of the room. "But don't think you're going anywhere. You won't get very far."  
  
Rinoa waited until he was out of the room then layed down on the bed. She was more tired than she thought she could ever be. But her mind didn't want to rest. It kept going over their last words. Why did he have to be such a jerk all the time? He couldn't really be like that to everyone, could he? Or did he just hate her? Maybe, she should try talking to him in a different way....  
  
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)  
  
Rinoa yawned and rolled over to her other side. Even in her unconcious state, she sensed a presence near her that disturbed her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and through her blurred vision she could see a dark figure hovering over her.  
  
For a moment, she assumed it was Squall, but as her vision cleared, she saw that it was a woman dressed in black with long black hair. She had a shining battle-ax raised high over her head, prepared to bring it down.  
  
Rinoa gathered her senses and managed to roll off the bed just as the stranger brought down the ax.  
  
She fell onto the floor in a dazed heap as the woman jumped over the bed and landed on her feet beside the terrified Rinoa. Rinoa scrambled up from the floor just in time to keep her head. The ax sliced past her arm, instead, leaving a large gash in her arm.  
  
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)  
  
Squall was in a deep sleep on the dusty, old sofa when he was awakened by a peircing scream. He jumped off the couch and looked around, wondering where it came from.  
  
He heard something thump against the wall of the bed room, and decided that must've been the source. Of course, this became obvious to him after the fog of his deep sleep wore off. But most people are a bit dumb when they first wake up.  
  
He burst through the door of the room and found Rinoa fighting with the same lady he stabbed the night before.  
  
Rinoa's right arm was covered in blood, and she was beginning to stagger. She had used most of her strength to to slam the woman into the wall.  
  
Upon seeing Squall the woman let out a shriek and ran at him with the ax. He easily dodged and tripped her. She fell face first to the ground, her ax clattering on trhe floor. Squall lunged for it, but the ax floated back into her hand and she quickly rolled to her feet.  
  
"Intrudehhhrrrrr," she said, her words trailing off into a strange sort of hiss.  
  
She suddenly dissapeared into a cloud of thin white smoke and reapeared behind him. She raised her ax above his head. Squall whirled around, seeing it was too late to do anything.  
  
Then, suddenly, she froze, let out a small, inhuman whimper, and fell to the ground, bleeding. Rinoa stood behind her, clutching Squall's Gunblade.  
  
"Take that, bitch!" Rinoa whispered, trembling. She handed his Gunblade back to him. "What now?"  
  
"I don't know. I thought she was dead when I stabbed her before. It might not be too good of an idea to stick around here. Whoever she is, she's powerful. Maybe not even human. I think we should go."  
  
Rinoa nodded. "Definately. Let's go."  
  
As they walked out of the house and into the dimming light of the sun outside, the woman in black raised her head from the pool of blood that surrounded her. Her dark eyes seemed to melt into a bluish color and a frosty puff of air rose from her lips.  
  
"Fhhhhind," she hissed as she stood. "Khhhhilllll."  
  
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Squall stopped walking and sighed. "Why don't we stop here for the night?"  
  
Rinoa shrugged. "Fine with me."  
  
He arched an eyebrow at her. "You've been awfully quiet lately," he pointed out.  
  
She shrugged. "You wanted me to shut up, so I did," she replied quietly. "Is that a problem?"  
  
"It's a refreshing change from the usual. I was just curious as to why you actually decided to honor my wishes."  
  
She shrugged. "I just decided that it wasn't worth it. I have nothing to say to you. So I'm not going to waste my breath."  
  
"Finally, you catch a clue," Squall muttered in reply.  
  
She just crossed her arms over her chest, and sat down with her back to him.  
  
Squall frowned a bit at her reaction. It was so weird for her to be so quiet. It was a little creepy. He wondered what had brought on her sudden change.  
  
"So..." he began after a moment of silence, "what made you decide to take this vow of silence?"  
  
"What do you care?" she replied roughly.  
  
He was taken aback by her words. He had never heard her talk like that before. He realized with a start that she sounded exactly like him. What was her problem?  
  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.  
  
She shrugged, but still didn't look at him. "It doesn't matter to you. I know that," she said softly. "So don't bother."  
  
He sighed. "Whatever. You're right. I don't care."  
  
She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head on them. He sat down somewhat behind and to the side of her and watched her as she closed her eyes in relaxation.  
  
"Does your arm still hurt?" he asked.  
  
She didn't answer, but opened her eyes. She studied him for a moment then said. "You know it's funny."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That when I finally shut up, say everything you can think of to get me to talk."  
  
"Who said I was trying to make you talk? I was just asking you a simple question."  
  
A smiled tugged at her lips. "You've got to be the most stuborn man I've ever seen. Why don't you just admit that you don't like being treated the same way you treat others?"  
  
He frowned at the realization. She had a point.  
  
"So basically, you think I should change?" he asked.  
  
"No. Don't change," she said truthfully. "Just.... don't hide."  
  
"Hide?"  
  
She nodded. "I see through your facade, Squall. You're hiding something. Pain, fear... something of the sort. Whatever it is, it can never get any better if you keep hiding."  
  
He sighed. "So you think you have me figured out? It's not as easy as you say it is."  
  
"No, it isn't. That's why you need help. You need someone."  
  
"I don't need anyone!"  
  
Rinoa felt the urge to yell back at him, but surpressed it. "Look. I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about it. Just... talk a little bit more. Open up. Slowly."  
  
He seemed about to yell again, but stopped and looked at her seriously. "How?"  
  
She was silent a moment then said, "How did you get your scar?"  
  
He was confused but answered. "It's a wound from an old rival of mine."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"He was making fun of me, which was normal. I was from a poor family and he was from a rich one," he said slowly. "But we we went through training together. One day, he challenged me to a fight, and I accepted. We ended up giving each other scars."  
  
She noded. "See. You're progressing all ready."  
  
He smirked a little. "You're very clever."  
  
"Of course I am. So what was his name?"  
  
"Seifer Almasy."  
  
Rinoa's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. Come to think of it, he does have a scar almost exactly like it."  
  
"You know him?"  
  
She nodded. "My father was going to force me to marry him. Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about it anymore," she said and smiled. Then she scooted closer to him. "Thank you. You're better company than he is, believe it or not."  
  
Squall looked into her eyes for a moment, feeling chills run up and down his spine. He was just leaning closer to her when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his vision went black.  
  
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A/N: Okay, last time I asked if this sucked, I had someone tell me I had to be out of mind to ask that. So instead of asking, I'll simply state the fact. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!! So, now that I've stated the obvious, I'd like to apologize for the hissing woman. I hope you understood what she was saying. Well, see ya! R&R please!!!!!! 


	4. Between Friends or Enemies

A/N: I'd just like to mention that the setting in this chapter was greatly inspired be a poster of a painting I have called "Cygnes Reflechis En Elephants" by Salvador Dali (I think). Also, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and review my story. Thanks!!!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Rinoa opened her eyes slowly, still feeling that sharp pain pulsing in her head. He vision was blurry, as if she'd been out for a while. As it began to clear up, she realized she was surrounded by desert land, and moving.  
  
She let out a sleepy yawn, unknowing of her new captors, and tried to move. But her wrists were bound tightly behind her back.  
  
"I see our little princess is up," said a strange female voice from Rinoa's side. "I was beginning to think you had fallen into eternal sleep."  
  
"Who are you?" Rinoa muttered sleepily as she looked at the strange blue woman at her side. "What have you done with Squall?"  
  
"Don't worry about him. He's being taken care of, in the proper manner."  
  
"What did you do with him?!" Rinoa demanded.  
  
The woman or creature, whichever is more fitting, cast an annoyed glance at Rinoa. "I said he was being taken care of. Just as any traitor should be taken care of. Why do you care so much anyway?"  
  
Rinoa frowned. "What do you mean, traitor?"  
  
"All shall be explained when we reach the palace."  
  
"The palace?"  
  
She didn't reply, but only looked forward. There, in the distance, was a small mountain. A large village was built on the side of it, and on the blunt top, was a huge, and extravagently built palace.  
  
"Where are we?" Rinoa asked worriedly.  
  
The woman grinned. "Soon, you shall recognize it."  
  
Rinoa looked around her, and realized she was in a steel cage with wheels on the bottom and poles that stuck out on the sides so it could be pushed forward by people on the outside. The woman next to her, was on the outside of the cage, but was not pushing it. It looked more as if she was supervising the transportation of the new prisoner.  
  
Rinoa hung her head and let out a shaky sigh. She could already tell it was gonna be one of those days....  
  
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A tall, broad shouldered man stood at the bottom of the barely worn path up the through the canyon. With his large hands, he gripped a mud incrusted chain and jerked it forward.  
  
On the other end of the chain, a man with messy brown hair and stormy blue eyes fell weakly to his knees, ripping holes in the knees of his black pants.  
  
"What do you want with me?" he choked out.  
  
"Be silent, traitor!" the bigger man roared. "The Emperor isn't pleased with you, ya know?"  
  
"Yeah, you mentioned that already," he shot back.  
  
"Neither is Seifer. And you know what happens when he gets mad, ya know?"  
  
Squall rolled his eyes. "Yeah, people die. Whatever. Just tell me why it's necessary to drag me by a chain around my neck up to the mountain?"  
  
" 'Cause Seifer said so, ya know!?"  
  
"Do you ever quite saying 'ya know' ?"  
  
"Just shut up and walk faster, ya know!" the big man ordered and jerked on the chain again.  
  
"Alright. Fine. Just tell me what you did with Rinoa."  
  
"She's getting the princess's treament, ya know," he replied. "And anyways, it was that kind of thinking that got you in trouble in the first place."  
  
"What kind of thinking?"  
  
"Thinking about her, ya know?"  
  
"I'm not thinking about her, nor have I ever," Squall replied irritatedly. "I'm just wondering what happened to MY prisoner. Is that what Seifer thinks? That I decided I had feelings for her, so I ran off with her? If that's the case, his head's more full of shit than I thought. And I still expect full recognization of my services."  
  
"You'll be lucky if Seifer doesn't kill you, much less promote you. You did a shity job, ya know."  
  
"It wasn't my fault. Most princesses are to spoiled and prissy to try escaping. They expect someone to come rescue them. But no, not her. That girl will kick, scream, and bite."  
  
"Well, It's Seifer and the Emperor decision. And it doesn't look good for you."  
  
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Finally, they arrived at the palace. The blue lady helped Rinoa out of the cage and walked her in through the palace doors. There, in the front room, sat Emperor Chu Yun on his throne. He was a short, pale old man with a completely bald head, as if it had been shaved off. He wore a heavy, multi-layered cape of the finest silk on his shoulers and gripped a golden staff in his hand.  
  
"So, the great Princess Rinoa has finally been delivered to me, as requested."  
  
The blue woman bowed. "All thanks to me. I also managed to capture that lowlife traitor Leonhart. Raijin's bringing him in."  
  
The Emperor nodded. "Yes, yes. Good work. Your services are quite comendable, Shiva the Shapeshifter. You shall be paid in full."  
  
"Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure serving you. Summon me when you wish to discuss payment."  
  
With that, Shiva the Shapeshifter dissapeared into a puff of icy cold air. This left Rinoa alone with the man who had murdered her mother.  
  
"So, Rinoa, how is your father these days?"  
  
She didn't answer, but backed away slightly.  
  
"I see. You don't feel comfortable with me. I wonder why. I know someone you are more familiar with, however. Son!" he yelled to the side of his throne. "Son, I require your presence!"  
  
A familiar blonde haired man stepped into the light and flashed his trade mark smirk at Rinoa.  
  
"How are things going, my dear princess?" he said in mock politness.  
  
"Seifer! What are you doing here!?" she demanded.  
  
"Didn't you here the man?" Seifer asked, gesturing toward the Emperor. "I'm his son. Back when he had hair, it was blonde like mine. I got my eyes from my mother, however."  
  
"What's going on? What do you want with me?!" Rinoa demanded.  
  
"Calm down, love," Seifer said. "Just a little power and revenge."  
  
The doors were suddenly flung open, and Raijin walked in, dragging Squall behind him.  
  
"Here he is, sir," Raijin said. "Just like you asked."  
  
Seifer nodded. "Yes, thank you Raijin. I'll get to him in a moment." He then turned back to Rinoa. "You see, love, I sent Leonhart out to capture you. He was one of our top officers, so I assumed he would be back with you in no time. I don't know what went through his head, but he never brought you back, and the other officers we sent with him reported both of you missing."  
  
"You mean.... Squall was working for you all along?"  
  
Seifer nodded and grinned. "Yep. We just told him to say he was a mercenary in case you somehow managed to get back to your father."  
  
Rinoa turned to look at Squall. "Is that true?"  
  
He didn't speak, but the way he hung his head was answer enough.  
  
Rinoa turned around and said, in a rigid tone, "What do you want with me, Seifer?"  
  
"Well, many things. Your father didn't know I was Chu Yun's son. He just knew that I was wealthy, and a good fighter. I intended to marry you, then kill off your father so my father and I would control his land. But as I was telling my father of my plan, he told me something about you that I didn't know. Something that you may not even know about yourself. You're very powerful, Rinoa. We could use this power against your father. We could conquer the world! Think about it, Rinoa. I'd be emperor of the world, and you, my empress. What do you say?"  
  
"Gee, I don't know. What would be the logical answer to that question?" she said sarcastically.  
  
Seifer grinned. "So that's a yes?"  
  
Rinoa smiled sweetly. "My answer is: FUCK OFF!!!!!!"  
  
Seifer's smile immediately turned to a scowl. "Wrong answer. But I'm afraid, you don't have a choice in the matter. Until then, since your so set on being resistant, you can wait in the dungeon, along with the traitor, since you seem to like him so much."  
  
Seifer snapped his fingers, and three gaurds walked into the room. Two to restain Squall, and one for Rinoa. They dragged the two down into the dungeon, which consisted of a wide, circular space that had been hollowed out of the ground. The walls, as well as the floor, were made of tightly packed, redish brown dirt and stone.  
  
They were brought there by a set of stone stairs and locked inside by a thick steel door, leaving them completely alone.  
  
Rinoa turned to look at Squall, pain and anger burning together into an explosive fire that gave her eyes a dangerous gleam.  
  
"Rinoa-" he began softly, but was cut off when she smacked his as hard as she could across the face.  
  
"I deserve that, I suppose," he muttered, putting a gloved hand to the bright red mark on his cheek.  
  
"Damn straight you do! This is all your fault! We're both gonna die becuase of you and your stupid shit!!! How could you lie to me like that!? You had me thinking...." her voice suddenly trailed off and she turned away from him.  
  
"Had you thinking what?" he asked in a challenging tone.  
  
"Nothing!" she shot back and sat down against the wall. "I don't want to talk to you right now! Or ever again! Go sit down on the other side of the room."  
  
He gave a mock bow. "Yes, my Princess. I'll be happy to do your bidding!" he yelled sarcastically. "Here's a reality check: your not a princess here! You can't tell anyone what to do and expect them to obey. So get over yourself!"  
  
He glared at him and stood up. "You think your just so damn tough, don't you? Here's a reality check for you: you're not! Nor will you ever be! And you know something else? Just last night I was thinking that maybe you actually were human. That maybe you had feelings. But you don't, do you? All you'll ever care about is yourself."  
  
"That's all I've ever had," he replied darkly.  
  
"Well, that's your own damn fault! You can't expect to ever have anybody else if you keep pushing people away!"  
  
"I haven't pushed anyone away! I haven't had the chance to. Nobody gives a rat's ass about me!"  
  
She looked at him with tear filled eyes. "You don't realize it, do you?"  
  
"Realize what?"  
  
She shook her head. "You are so dense. Do you really think I would've bothered to bring it to your attention so many times that you were an asshole, or tried to get you to talked to me if I didn't care about you?"  
  
He frowned. "I.... I don't guess I ever thought of it that way."  
  
"No. You didn't think at all, did you?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She put a hand to his cheek and said. "Don't be sorry. Just tell me the truth, once and for all."  
  
"The truth about what?"  
  
She took a couple steps back from him and looked him dead in the eye. "Is it me, or them?"  
  
He didn't have to ask what she meant. She wanted to know if he was siding with her or his emperor. She wanted to know who he would pledge his loyalty to.  
  
He looked down at the ground for a moment, trying to figure out how to say it. His mind was already made up.  
  
Finally he gave her the most sincere smile he'd ever given anyone before, then said, "You, Princess Rinoa. If you'll have me."  
  
She smiled back and said. "Of course I will. But on one condition."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't call me princess," she replied with a laugh.  
  
He nodded. "Alright. So what if I act like a jerk sometimes?"  
  
"I'll slap you and yell at you," she replied. "Then I'll say I'm sorry and do this," she leaned up and brushed her lips across his. "Sound good to you?"  
  
He nodded. "Definately. Now, shouldn't we be trying to get out of here?"  
  
"Yeah," she answered. "But how?"  
  
"If they hadn't taken away my Gunblade, I'd sugest we try digging out."  
  
She shook her head, smiling, then walked over to the wall.  
  
"Is something wrong?" he asked.  
  
"No. There's just something strange...." her voice trailed off as she pushed with all her might on the wall, causing it to sink in and slide to the side.  
  
She took a few steps inside with Squall following close behind her, and discovered a wide tunnel carved into the stone.  
  
"Should we?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Better than staying here," Squall replied.  
  
The two walked down the tunnel, side by side, until they came to a dead end. Rinoa pushed hard on against the stone again, and it broke away, tumbling to ground on the other side. Rinoa and Squall stumbled over the remains of the wall and found themselves outside. They were standing on the banks of an inlet from the nearby ocean. There were Chocobos and Chicobos playing in the water, and a young boy standing near them with a long wooden cane in his hands.  
  
When the boy saw Squall and Rinoa, he grined. "Hi! D'ya come to buy a Chocobo?"  
  
Squall shook his head. "No. We don't need a Chocobo. We just need to know where we are."  
  
The boy scratched his head. "I'm not sure. You should ask my mom and dad. They're back at the house right now. I can take you to them, as soon as I'm done watering the Chocobos."  
  
"I guess so," Squall said reluctantly.  
  
"What's your name?" Rinoa asked the boy.  
  
"Akira," he answered. "But everyone calls me Chocoboy, since my family is in the Chocobo ranching business, and I'm so good at taking care of them."  
  
Rinoa smiled. "Alright then. Can you led us to your family?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes, yes. The Chocobos are done drinking now. Follow me."  
  
After doing a bit of climbing and walking, they arrived at a small white house that sat at the foot of a strangely shaped, narrow mountain peak. It had a odd bluish gray color to it, and a road that wound up nearly to the top, much like the mountain of the mountain people. At the top of the road was a small village where a few houses rested.  
  
As soon as they arrived at the small white house, a woman dressed completely in black with long black hair came out of the door.  
  
"Nice to see that you're home, son," she said to Akira. "Have you brought some visitors?"  
  
"Yes, mama," he replied. "They say they need to know where they are."  
  
The woman looked up at the two and smiled. It was then that Rinoa realized she'd seen this woman before. One more occasions than one.  
  
"I would be happy to help you," she said. "I'm Edea. You are?"  
  
"Rinoa," Rinoa replied quickly. "And this is Squall."  
  
"Pleased to meet you," she said politely. "You look awfully tired. Have you any place to go?"  
  
Squall shrugged. "If there's a town nearby then we can stay in the hotel, there."  
  
"There is a town down by the ocean," told them. "But it's at least a day's journey from here. And it's nearly night now. You couldn't possibly make it. Which is just as well. We have a couple extra rooms here that you may use, if you wish."  
  
Squall looked to Rinoa. She nodded, and he said. "Alright, that sounds good. Thank you, ma'm."  
  
She laughed. "Oh, you're quite welcome. My husband and I love having visitors. So does Chocoboy. Now come in, please."  
  
She showed them into her small, but cozy little house. Inside, there was a fire in a fire place, a few peices of furniture, including a rather large, padded chair where an old man slept. The walls were an inviting cream color, and the shadows cast on them from the fire gave the room an even warmer aura.  
  
Edea walked over to the old man sleeping in the chair and gently shook him awake.  
  
"What, what?!" he muttered grumpily upon waking up. "I wasn't sleeping, I swear! Just resting my eyes."  
  
Akira giggled and Edea shook her head. "Cid. How many times have I told you not to lie or swear in front of our son. And to our room to take a nap instead of falling asleep in the chair like you do everynight? We have company, you know" she said, gesturing toward Squall and Rinoa.  
  
The man grinned sheepishly at the two teenagers and stood from his chair. "Sorry dear," he said to his wife then turned back to Rinoa and Squall. "Forgive me for not introducing myself right away. I'm Cid Kramer. I own the Chocobo ranch out behind the house. Me and my wife both, of course."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Rinoa said as politely as she could manage. The familiarness she felt toward Edea was still bothering her.  
  
"Well, we'll eat and then I'll show you to your rooms. Or you could share if you prefer," Edea told them.  
  
Squall got a hopeful gleam in his eye, but Rinoa just laughed and shook her head. "No, we'll be taking seperate rooms if that's not too much of a problem."  
  
"Of course not, dear," Edea replied. "Now, dinner's ready. Let's eat."  
  
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After eating a large diner of fish, rice, and tea, Edea showed Squall and Rinoa to their seperate rooms, as promised.  
  
Squall's room was small, dark, and mostly empty, save the bed and a side table. Rinoa's room was much larger with light blue walls, a large bed, a mirror and a vanity, and dozens of stuffed animals, including a stuffed Ochu, Ruby Dragon, and Moomba. There was a door on one side of the room, which she was told led to the back yard.  
  
"This use to be my daughter Saiu's room before she moved out," Edea said with a tone of sadness.  
  
"She grew up and moved out?" Rinoa asked despite herself.  
  
Edea shook her head. "I'm afraid not. She ran away when she was just a young teenager. That was several years ago. She's old enough to be your mother, now."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that," Rinoa replied softly.  
  
"Yes, well.... I just hope she's alright, where ever she is. Anyway, this will be your room for the evening. Enjoy."  
  
"Thank you," she replied and entered the darkened room.  
  
After a few hours of trying to sleep, Rinoa gave up and decided to go outside and get some fresh air. The room was comfortable, but a bit stuffy.  
  
She slowly opened the door to the back yard, glad that it didn't creak, and walked outside, shutting the door lightly behind her. She walked around for a little while, looking through the fence at the sleeping Chocobos. She was starteled when she heard a voice call out from the darkness in front of her.  
  
"Rinoa? Is that you?"  
  
She walked ahead a bit further and found Edea sitting on an old wooden bench. There were tears staining her cheeks and her eyes were slightly puffy.  
  
"Sorry to disturb you," Rinoa apologized.  
  
"No, that's alright. I think it'll help me to have someone to talk to, anyway, if you don't mind."  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "I don't mind."  
  
Edea sighed. "You know, you look awfully familiar to me. There's just something about you that reminds me of....." her voice trailed off painfully.  
  
"Of Saiu?"  
  
Edea nodded, then laughed. "You know it's funny. She never liked her name. She always called herself Julia. She said she thought it was a beautiful name."  
  
"Why did she run away, if you don't mind my asking?" Rinoa asked, ignoring the fact that Julia had been her mother's name.  
  
"Saiu, or Julia, wasn't like other kids. She wasn't like other people. She always spoke of this power. She could do things that is impossible for mortal people to do. It was always hard on her, I know. But there wasn't much I could do. Saiu was my first child. I was very young when I had her. I didn't know half of the things that I know now. I didn't know how to help her deal with the pain. She was only a teenager when her powers started to show through..."  
  
"Do you know what happened to her? After she ran away?"  
  
"No. I haven't heard from her. But I fear the worst. I think she's dead."  
  
"I'm sorry," Rinoa replied. "What did she look like?"  
  
"She had straight, brown hair, and beautiful brown eyes. She always loved to sing, too."  
  
"My mother," Rinoa began nervously, "looked liked that. And her name was Julia."  
  
"What happened to your mother? Does she live?"  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "She died a several years ago. When I was very young."  
  
Edea stood and motioned for Rinoa to follow her back into the house. They entered the small living room and Edea bent down in front of the fire place. She pulled on a loose brick until it came out completely. She reached inside and produced a small, black, rectangular box.  
  
She handed it to Rinoa and replaced the brick.  
  
"Open it," she said.  
  
Rinoa opened the box to reveal a silver chain with a silver ring hanging from it.  
  
"That was Julia's favorite peice of jewelry," Edea told her. "Try it on."  
  
"Oh, I couldn't," Rinoa replied.  
  
"Please?" Edea asked.  
  
"Alright. Since you put it that way..." she answered and hooked the necklace around her neck. She then slipped her ring finger into the silver ring to see that it fit her finger perfectly.  
  
"It fits," Edea said with a smile.  
  
Rinoa looked back at Edea. "You know.... you do look a lot like my mother did," she admitted after coming to the realization.  
  
Edea's eyes filled with tears and she said, "Perhaps, then, your mother is my daughter. And you are my grandaughter."  
Rinoa gave her a small, sad smile. "Do you really think so?"  
  
Edea shrugged. "Maybe."  
  
Rinoa reached to take the necklace off, but Edea stopped her. "Keep it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"To remeber your mother by," Edea replied gently.  
  
"What about your daughter? Don't you want to remember her?"  
  
"Of course. Always. But something deep within tells me that they're one and the same. Not only that, but I also want you to remember me. And promise me that you'll visit me sometimes, relative or not."  
  
Rinoa nodded. "Of course I will."  
  
"Good," Edea said with a smile. "No go off to bed. I don't want to keep you awake any longer."  
  
As Rinoa lay in her bed, drifting off to sleep and thinking of the recent events that had occured, something hit her. If Edea's daughter was Rinoa's mother, then what if she had the same powers....?  
  
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A/N: Well, there's another chapter down. Sorry if it wasn't Squinoa-ish enough, or too angsty toward the end. Due to numerous requests, I won't say it sucks. I'd also like to thank everyone for waiting so long for me to update. I couldn't think of any good ideas. This is actually the third chapter four that I wrote. Anyway, please R&R!!!! Thank you! 


	5. Nothing Between Us

A/N: Hello, again! Well, after days of banging my head against the wall, and fighting a war with a blank computer screen, I'm back for another chapter. I'd like to give a special thank you to all those that reviewed. Enjoy......Please?  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Squall sat in a comfortable silence as he watched the sun slowly creep up from the horizon. As was typical for him, his mind was flooded with thoughts, though he was not apt to stay on one subject for very long.  
  
One thought that did keep coming back to him, was wondering if he'd done the right thing the day before. His military career was practically over anyway, given the charges placed upon him. But there was still a chance to build his career back up. Now, he had turned his back on all of that, just for some pushy little princess on the run.  
  
It was never as if he enjoyed serving the Emperor. Or Seifer, for that matter. But it was all he had ever had. All that he had been raised with. And now what did he have?  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a timid hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Rinoa smiling at him. Her hair was dripping wet, as if she'd just washed it, and she was dressed in a sleeveless, light blue vest that zipped from both the top and the bottom. She also wore a black skirt that came up just above her knees and a pair of black combat boots.  
  
"Aren't you gonna get cold in that?" Squall asked her.  
  
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "At least I'm not wearing Quistis's gypsy clothes anymore. Edea let me barrow them. And I've had a shower. Which is something you need to do, too. No offense, but you stink!"  
  
"Very funny," Squall grumbled and stood from the fence he had been sitting on.  
  
She grinned. "I know. What are you doing up so early, anyway?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question."  
  
"But I asked you first."  
  
He shrugged. "I was just trying to catch a little peace and quiet. Trying to gather my thoughts."  
  
She giggled and thumped him on the forehead. "And what kind of interesting thoughts were running through your head?"  
  
"None of your business," he replied, rubbing his forehead. "That hurt."  
  
"Oh, you wuss!" she laughed, gently rubbing her fingers over the red spot that had shown up on his forehead. Then she frowned.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"How did you really get that scar?"  
  
"The way I told you, I did."  
  
"Squall, I know about-"  
  
"I wasn't lying when I told you about that. Seifer and I really were rivals. But I was a poor orphan, and he was the emperor's son. I guess there really wasn't much of a contest when you think about it."  
  
A slight smile tugged at Rinoa's lips. "You're getting better."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're getting better at opening up to people. Now go take a shower. We have to get going pretty soon."  
  
Without so much as a nod of acknowledgement, Squall turned and walked into the house again. Rinoa watched after him with a sigh. This wasn't going to be an easy journey.  
  
Again, the thought crossed her mind that she should tell him about the previous night's discoveries. But how would he take it? He might decide to leave her to carry on by herself. She wasn't really sure she could handle that. What would life be like, running from Seifer, living in the wild, surviving on her own, and dealing with special powers? If she even had any, that is, and chances were, she didn't. No need to worry Squall over nothing.  
  
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A few hours later, they were riding on a Chocobo toward the town on the shore. Edea had been kind enough to let them have the Chocobo, who was named Saiph. This action had puzzled Squall, but Rinoa understood. After giving Edea a tearful hug, or in Squall's case, an akward look and a handshake, they set out for their destination.  
  
Aside from a few stops here and there in order for them to do their business and take the occasional nap, their journey went rather smoothly. They reached the town around two in the morning.  
  
The town at this time was rather quiet, of course, but that didn't mean that it was asleep. People sat in groups around bon fires in the streets, wrapped in thin blankets. They clutched their blankets closed with one hand and and held a bottle in the other, taking an occasional sip, when they weren't busy talking in low voices to the people next to them.  
  
After casting a worried glance at Rinoa, Squall cautiously approached one of the groups, with Saiph in tow, and asked politely, "Where is the hotel?"  
  
The people looked at him with confusion in their eyes, and began to whisper to each other in a strange language.  
  
"Hotel," Squall repeated, this time with more emphasis. "Where is it?"  
  
The whispered for a few more minutes until finally an older, dark- skinned man looked up at him and said, "Killaidosceph?"  
  
Squall sighed. "Hotel."  
  
The man arched an eyebrow and offered him the bottle saying, "Hirokaide mihel?"  
  
Squall shook his head. "Hotel!"  
  
Finally, after a few more minutes of whispering, a young girl with honey blonde hair, and violet eyes stood up and pointed at the building across the road. "Hotel!"  
  
"Alright, thank you," Squall said before walking away and across the road to what he hoped was the hotel.  
  
The building was plain, and made of old, white-washed planks of wood. They tied Siaph up to a post outside and went in. Upon entering, they saw a woman with graying brown hair and a faded floral dress standing behind a desk, flipping through a book of records while a young girl with auburn hair swept the floor next to a stair case.  
  
Squall approached the desk and said, "Hello?"  
  
The old woman looked up and studied them for a moment before allowing a gentle smile to spread over her face. "Hello. I see you're not from 'round here. Ya don't speak the language, do ya? Well, what can I do for ya?"  
  
"We need two rooms," Rinoa spoke up.  
  
The woman flipped through her book for a moment then said, "I'm afraid there's only one available tonight."  
  
"We'll take it," Rinoa replied with a slight sigh.  
  
"Good! My name's Agatha. Agatha Dincht. Though my friends and family call me Ma Dincht. Now the room'll be 100 gil, please," she told them in her strange accent.  
  
After Squall handed her what small bit of money he had left, she said, "A'right. Follow me, please, and I'll take ya to your room."  
  
They walked past the sweeping girl, who ceased her job for a moment to gaze up a Squall with a shy, but flirtatious smile. He quickly turned away, wide-eyed and blushing, while Rinoa tried to contain her giggles.  
  
Agatha lead the two up the old, creaking staircase and into a hall with white, chipping paint, and cracks in the ceiling.  
  
As they passed by one of the rooms, something crashed into the wall, and a couple could be heard yelling obsceneties at one another as they argued.  
  
"My, they're at it, again," Agatha sighed. "Their a'ways like that when they get drunk, which is ever'night, jus' about."  
  
They passed another and could hear loud music playing inside. There was also a small stream of smoke floating out from beneath the door. As Squall was about to say something about it, he caught a whiff of it and realized it wasn't from a fire, or even a normal cigarette. After all, he'd had training in the Emperor's military on how to catch substance abusers. Just next door to that room, loud, offensive sounds could be heard that made both Rinoa and Squall blush.  
  
Agatha smiled at them sheepishly before leading them up to another floor. This one was, fourtunately, quiet. At the end of the hall, however, a man lay sprawled out over the floor clutching an empty bottle in his hands.  
  
"Mercy, not again!" Agatha exclaimed, stepping over him. "If you could jus' step on over 'em tonight, I'll have 'em out o' the way by mornin'."  
  
Rinoa and Squall did as they were asked, however, uneasily. Agatha stopped in front of the door just on the other side of him and pulled out her key.  
  
"Here ya are. Hope ya enjoy yer stay."  
  
The two filed into the room hesitantly. As Squall closed the door behind himself, he could here Ms. Dincht out in the hall saying, "A'right now, Mr. Sanchez. This is no place for ya to be sleepin'."  
  
Rinoa plopped down on the bed with a sigh. "This place is awful. I hope the whole town's not like this."  
  
"How much you wanna bet it is?" Squall replied.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Optimistic."  
  
"Where am I gonna sleep?" Squall wondered aloud. There was only one bed in the room.  
  
"Well.... the bed's big enough for two people.... so I guess we can both sleep on it."  
  
"I'm not sure I'd feel safe with you," he replied sarcastically.  
  
"Well then, you can always go find your little girl friend with the broom," she shot back, feeling a pang of jealousy not that she really thought about the incident.  
  
"Oh yes, the lovely girl with the broom. I think it was love at first sight. I'm sure we can set you up with Mr. Sanchez from the hall."  
  
She laughed. "I don't think so. Better him than Seifer, though, I suppose."  
  
"You really don't like him, do you?"  
  
"Of course not. If your parents forced you into marriage with some slutty, pushy, abusive bitch, would you be all that fond of her?"  
  
Squall started to laugh, but stopped as her words sank in. "Abusive? He...hit you?"  
  
Rinoa looked down at the ground, suddenly ashamed, though she wasn't sure why.  
  
"Yes, of course he did," Squall said in a low voice. He now remembered seeing the whole, horrible scene unfold in front of Rinoa's tower. "I saw it all."  
  
Rinoa's eyes quickly darted back up. "You...saw? When? How?"  
  
"The night I kidnapped you. I was hidding, waiting for you to go to sleep. I saw you talking to him. Then he hit you. Did...he always hit you like that?"  
  
Rinoa inhaled sharply and drew her knees up to her chest. "Yes. Regaurdless of whether or not we were alone, which was rare. He didn't care if he left marks, bruises.... my father....he never cared...." Rinoa's voice broke off as she closed her eyes in pain of the memories. "Squall?" she asked after a moment in a shaky voice. "Where do we go from here?"  
  
Squall honestly wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't thought much about it. All he had thought about up until that moment, was whether or not he had made the right decision in helping Rinoa. Now he realized that, despite that it was his worst nightmare, she was depending on him to get her out of the hell she'd been so carelessly plunged into by her father. She needed him. She needed him to make a decision.  
  
"I don't know," he replied. "I never really thought about. I've mostly just been worried over whether or not I made the right decision in joining you."  
  
"You worried you might end up getting killed?"  
  
He shrugged. "Maybe."  
  
"Why did you do it, anyway? Why did you help me?"  
  
He shrugged again. "I really don't know. I guess it just seemed like the right thing to do."  
  
She carefully reached her hand to his face and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Squall? What are you hiding?"  
  
"What do you mean, what am I hiding?"  
  
"Squall, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," she said in a soft voice. "You don't realize what you've done for me. If it weren't for you, I'd have to live the rest of my life with him. You saved me from that. So now I want to do something for you."  
  
"There's nothing you can do for me," he replied.  
  
"Maybe there is," she insisted. "Maybe... I can take away your pain."  
  
He shook his head. "It's not that easy."  
  
"Sometimes it helps just to talk to someone about it."  
  
"There's nothing to talk about!" Squall growled, growing impatient wit her. "So why don't you just shut up!"  
  
She looked uo at him with tears in her eyes, then looked quickly away.  
  
"I'm....I'm sorry," he said. "I just don't understand why you're trying so hard for this."  
  
"I told you before. I care about you."  
  
"Why?!" he burst out. "I've treated you awful! I've yelled at you, insulted you. I'm no damn better than Seifer is!"  
  
"Squall, you dumb ass," she laughed gently. "That's not the real you. I know that. But you don't. You're using that to hide your pain. Deep down, you're so much more than that. If you'd only let it shine through."  
  
"How do you know? You say that I don't even know. So how do you know that the real me is better than that? Why would you risk it to care about something that may or may not really be there?"  
  
She smiled gently at him. "Because you're you. That's why I care. And you've shown me, though not directly, who you really are. You can know, too. You just have to stop hiding. Let me ease your pain. If I can."  
  
He slowly sat down next to her. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Let go," she said in a near whisper. "Seifer hurt you, too, didn't he?"  
  
He nodded, "Yeah. When I was young..... he and I had a nasty little run in at town one day. I didn't know who he was, and I was too young to care. We got into a fight, and I kicked his ass. The next day, my parents were executed, and I was drafted into the military and I was made to train with Seifer. I was forced to lose every battle I fought against him, as punishment for humiliating him in public."  
  
"That's awful," Rinoa replied, tenderly stroking his face. "Doesn't it feel better to talk about it?"  
  
He shrugged. "Maybe. It doesn't change what happened, though."  
  
"Of course not. But that's not the point of talking about it. At least now, you don't have to keep holding it in. I understand, Squall."  
  
He nodded slowly, with a deep sadness shining in his eyes. "I guess you're right."  
  
She put her arms around his neck and gently pushed his head onto her shoulder. "If there's ever anything else you need to talk about, I'm here."  
  
He nodded slightly, then took a deep breath, inhaling her rose-like scent. "I never told anyone anything before. I'm not sure why I told you. I think I'm...." his voice trailed off and he inhaled deeply, hoping he hadn't implyed more than he'd meant to.  
  
Squall lifted his head from her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. The look that he found there said it all. There was no more need for words. He lowered his head again, carefully touching his lips to hers. This wasn't the first time he'd kissed her, but there was something different, and more fragile about it this time.  
  
She brushed her tongue over his lips, and deepened their kiss. It began slow and careful, both of them somewhat afraid of ruining the moment, but became more intense and passionate as they continued on, though it never lost its tenderness.  
  
Rinoa eased Squall's jacket off his shoulders and tossed it to the ground before grabing the collar of his shirt and slowly pulling him down on top of her. She ran her fingers through his silky brown hair with one hand and ran the other up the back of his shirt.  
  
"Rinoa," Squall whispered as he boldly ran his hand up her shirt and began kissing a path down her neck.  
  
She moaned softly and pulled his shirt off over his head. She lightly ran her fingernails down his back and kissed up his cheek to his ear lobe, which she nibbled on gently before whispering, "Please, Squall?"  
  
He pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes. "Rinoa.... we can't.... it wouldn't.....we can't....."  
  
She sat up slightly and slowly unzipped her top. "There's no one standing in our way, tonight."  
  
He closed his eyes for a moment, the memory of her crosing her room in the nude flashing through his mind yet again. She had a point. No one was there to tell them they couldn't. And whether he liked it or not, he cared about her deeply. Not that he was anywhere near telling her that. But maybe this could be a way for him to express his feelings without having to say anything.  
  
He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek then began working his way down again. She rubbed his back and bit her lip as he reached her chest before letting out a sharp cry. "Oh, Squall," she moaned.  
  
They continued on this way until finally it was time. He took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked again, not wanting her to do something she would regret.  
  
She nodded and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes. Just....be careful. I've never..."  
  
"Neither have I," he replied and lowered his head so that thier foreheads were lightly touching. He gave her a tender kiss on the lips then continued.  
  
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The next morning, when Squall and Rinoa awoke, they found that sometime during the night, while they were sleeping, someone had broken into their room. The only thing that was missing, however, was Squall's jacket. This might not have been so bad, were it not for the fact that all their gil had been in it.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Rinoa asked after dressing.  
  
Squall shrugged. "I guess we could go out and see if we find someone with the same jacket I had."  
  
She shrugged. "Not only that, but we need to get out of here. I just know that Seifer's gonna look here."  
  
He nodded. "Let's go."  
  
They stepped out of their and found that Mr. Sanchez had been moved from his place in the hall. The hotel room seemed quiet compared to last night. It was as if all the people had left already.  
  
Downstairs, they found Agatha at her desk again, counting out her gil from the previous night.  
  
"Hello, there. How'd ya sleep?"  
  
Squall and Rinoa both blushed slightly, but said, "Fine. Just fine. Except that we were robbed."  
  
"Really?! Tha's horrible! I'm so sorry. Is there an'thing I can do?"  
  
"Just tell us how we can get out of this town," Squall said.  
  
"There's usually some'ne at the docks with a boat that's givin' rides. You should check there."  
  
"Alright, thank you," Rinoa said before she and Squall headed out the door.  
  
Once they were outside, and had untied Saiph from his place outside, they saw why the hotel had practically been abandoned. Everyone was out on the street. The town was actually very lively now that the sun had risen. People had set up stands and were trying to sell things to Squall and Rinoa as they passed. Other people were dancing for money, or doing tricks, such a swallowing swords or walking across coals.  
  
It was obvious that the town was poor. There were very few buildings in the town, and what few that were there, were old and broken down. There was only one road through the town, and it consisted of sharp, gray pebbles and broken sea shells.  
  
At the end of this one street, was a long, wooden dock. A person stood at the end of it, a wide, round hat covering his or her face, and a paddle in their hand. They also had a small bag strapped to their back. There was a small boat floating in the water and tied to the end on the dock with a worn rope.  
  
"I have a strange feeling about this," Rinoa said as they approached the mysterious person. "It's a bit odd don't you think?"  
  
Squall shrugged. "Nah. Just a person waiting to give someone a boat ride somewhere."  
  
When the came to stand in front of the person, they didn't lift their head to reveal their face, but simply said, in a strange, but female voice, "WHAT?"  
  
"Can you take us someplace far from here?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE."  
  
"Good. How much?"  
  
"Rinoa, we don't have any money," Squall reminded her in a whisper.  
  
"NO WORRY. I HELP," the girl said, having heard him.  
  
"For free?"  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE. EDEA SEND. GET ON."  
  
With a slight sigh of worry, Rinoa and Squall climbed into the small boat, and helped Saiph in. Saiph cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes untrustingly at the girl. He then turned to Rinoa and emitted a loud, high-pitched sound before swinging his back around to glare at the stranger. Rinoa patted him on the head then shot Squall a look.  
  
The girl climbed into the boat as well, and untied it from the dock. She stood on one end of the boat and began to paddle.  
  
A few hours later, the boat landed on the shore of what appeared to be a large island. The girl stepped out of the boat and motioned for Rinoa and Squall to follow her.  
  
They followed her into the dense tropical foliage that covered most of the island. After a small bit of walking, the came upon a large castle made of gray stone.  
  
"WAIT HERE," said the girl before walking through the gates of the temple.  
  
She went through the door in the front, then, once inside, up a grand set of stairs and through another door. In this room sat a throne, which was covered in gold and accented by red velvet cushions that matched the carpet. It sat with its back to the door, facing a balcony.  
  
"RETURNED," the girl said, removing her hat to reveal short gray hair and a patch over one of her eyes. She then pulled a black leather jacket out of her bag and tossed it to the floor.  
  
"Good," came a voice from the other side of the throne. "I assume you brought them along?"  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE."  
  
"And the girl? She is well?"  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE."  
  
A thin, shapely woman with long black hair and a revealing black dress stood from the throne. "Good. Have them kome in. Do not tell them of my presence here. The girl knows something is wrong. Do not alarm her, at any kost. Understood?"  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE."  
  
"Good. Now be gone with you. I must determine this girl's powers before karrying out my plan. If she has the same powers her mother had....We shall no longer have to worry about hiding in this godforsaken castle. We shall finally have revenge."  
  
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A/N: Yes, I know. I've restricted from saying it sucks, so I'll leave that for you to say. Did I rush things between Squall and Rinoa? I didn't originally intend to have it go that far, but I guess it had a will of its own. Well, please R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	6. Confusion

A/N: I'm back again! Somehow, I feel you're not all that excited. Sorry, it's late, I'm not of sound mind. Anyway, here's the next chapter, as requested. Also..... What the hell do you people consider 'R' rated?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I was afraid too put to much in the last chapter, for fear that I would over step the 'R' boundry, yet still someone says it still not 'R' rated. I'm not complaining. I love all good reviews But can someone tell me exactly what it or isn't appropriate, so that I may better serve you?  
  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Rinoa gazed out the window at the stormy sky, and watched the rain fall slowly from the solid cloud of gray. It had a beauty all its own, though it it was somewhat depressing.  
  
As she stood reflecting on this beauty of darkness, there came a light knocking upon her door.  
  
"What is it?" she called, expecting it to be Fujin.  
  
Squall slowly entered the room and looked around. "Fujin gave you a bigger room than she did me."  
  
"Of course," replied Rinoa. "I'm the princess, after all."  
  
A few hours had passed since they had arrived at the castle. Fujin had shown Squall and Rinoa to the rooms in which they would stay while they were there. Rinoa had tried several times to ask her why Edea had sent her, and why they had to stay at the castle, but she always seemed to be busy. Rinoa realized that this whole thing was probably a lie, but what could she do right now? They had no where else to go.  
  
"I doubt Fujin realizes who you are," Squall replied.  
  
Rinoa shrugged and sat down on her bed. "So what's up?"  
  
Squall sat down beside her. "I was just wondering if you were as worried as I am about this whole thing."  
  
"You mean, do I really believe it? No. I'm worried, too," she answered.  
  
"Then, what do we do?"  
  
"Suddenly, you're asking my advice?"  
  
"I was just curious to see what was going through your head, this morning. Since you like to pry into my thoughts so much, I'd thought I'd look into yours."  
  
Rinoa turned to him with a wicked grin on her face. "Are you sure you can handle my thoughts?"  
  
He smiled for a moment then looked away nervously. "Um... about that.....I was a little worried."  
  
She cocked her head to the side and arched an eyebrow. "About what?"  
  
"Last night," he clarified.  
  
"Oh. That. What about that?" she asked, a slight blush creeping over her cheeks.  
  
"We, um.... didn't use anything. What if....?"  
  
"Oh, I see. I honestly don't feel... pregnant. I mean, it's too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure I'm not." The worried and embarresed look left her face, and that wicked grin spread over it again. "I guess we'll just have to be careful from now on."  
  
"From now on?" Squall repeated slowly.  
  
She leaned closer to him and placed her hand on his thigh. "What, you didn't enjoy yourself last night?"  
  
He looked away and blushed at the memory. "It definately isn't that. I guess I'm just.... confused."  
  
She smiled slightly. "That's okay. I'm confused, too. Let's just try to get out of the trouble we're currently in before trying to figure out our relationship."  
  
"Yeah I....RELATIONSHIP?!"  
  
The smile quickly faded from her face. "Yes, our relationship."  
  
"We.... have a relationship?"  
  
Rinoa resisted the urge to slap him. "Of course we do! I mean, what did you think... shit!" She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "You think I slept with you because I'm some kind of whore?"  
  
"No!" he exclaimed, panicked. "I-I just. Like I said, I'm confused."  
  
"Yeah, sure," she said softly, in a hurt tone, before standing from the bed and walking over to the window. "If you're done talking, maybe you should leave," she said in a cold voice without even looking at him.  
  
He stood and was about to leave the room, when Fujin opened the door and stepped inside.  
  
"COME. MASTER MEET."  
  
In a icy silence, the two followed Fujin out of the room and down the stairs to a dining room. The room was dimly lit, casting half of it in darkness. There was a long table in the center of the room, covered with a white, lacey table cloth. Beautiful, classy paintings and tapesrties graced the walls, completeing the elegant air of the room.  
  
"SIT," Fujin said, indicating to two chairs at the end of the table nearest the door. It appeared that there was someone seated at the other end of the table, cast in shadow.  
  
"Welcome," a dark voice said. "I hope you're enjoying your stay."  
  
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked.  
  
The person leaned up so that they were somewhat in the light. It was a female, with pinkish-red eyes and a devious face hidden behind a black veil.  
  
"My name is not important, Rinoa," she replied.  
  
"How do you know my name?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I know many things, to which you will never be able to guess."  
  
"Why did you bring us here?" Squall asked.  
  
"I want to help you. I understand that you're in grave danger. You need someone to help you through it. And I'm just the person to do it."  
  
"What's in it for you?" Squall asked.  
  
"You'll see," she said.  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "No deal. I'm not staying here."  
  
The stranger gave a grave nod. "Very well then. I understand. It is kompletely your choice. But it is fastly approaching evening, and a journey from here shall take a long time. Would it not be best for you to stay and rest for the evening?"  
  
Squall looked to Rinoa for an opinion, but she nochalantly ignored him and held her shoulders rigid against his gaze as she said, "Just for this evening. But no longer."  
  
"Very well, then. You may be off to your rooms for the rest of the night. I wish I kould offer you something to eat, but I fear I have nothing. So be off, if you will."  
  
Rinoa nodded, said thank you, then left quickly, with a bewildered Squall trailing behind her.  
  
Once they had gotten outside the door, Squall caught up to Rinoa and grabbed her by the arm. "What the hell were you thinking?! Shouldn't I get a say in this?"  
  
She whirled around to face him with an uncharacteristic scowl upon her face. "Go ahead and leave! I'm not stopping you!"  
  
"Rinoa, I think-"  
  
"I really don't give a fuck what you think, Mr. Leonhart," she hissed coldly. "Now if you would be so kind as to remove your hand from my body, I will be off to my room," she said in a very prim and proper tone which she had used often when she was living in her palace.  
  
Squall watched her as she walked off, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. But why?  
  
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Rinoa was half asleep when she heard someone enter her room. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, as fear shot through her. Certainly it wasn't Squall. He wouldn't bother. So who was it?  
  
Rather than sitting up to confront the person, she turned her back to them, as if still alseep, and curled up into a ball.  
  
She felt the bed dip on the other side as weight was rested upon it. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Rinoa?" she heard Squall whisper.  
  
She let out her breath and turned to look at him, feeling foolish that she had been so worried. She wasn't sure what it was about this place, but it definately made her uneasy.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked.  
  
"I just... wanted to apologize to you," he whispered.  
  
"For what?"  
  
He slowly, uncertainly placed a hand on her face and said, "I know you think that last night didn't mean anything to me. But it did. It meant a lot. More than I can express to you in words. I've never been good with these kind of things."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. You were probably just horny and saw me as an easy lay."  
  
"Rinoa it wasn't like that! I never would have slept with you if I didn't care about you!"  
  
"Please!" she burst out. "You've probably slept with Quistis before, haven't you?"  
  
"Rinoa I told you then that I'd never been with anyone before!"  
  
"Okay, if all that's true, then did you just expect it to be a one time thing, and not have any consequences?"  
  
"I'm just not used to all this. I've never been in a relationship before, to tell you the truth. I don't understand what I'm feeling."  
  
She sat up to get a better look at his face through the darkness, and saw the look of pain, and exasperation on his face. "What are you feeling?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Something....I'm not sure....I can handle," he said, a lump rising in his throat as he looked into her probing eyes.  
  
She leaned closer to him, feeling her anger subside, and slowly met her lips with his. For the first time since he'd entered her room that night, Squall realized that she wasn't wearing anything but her undergarments. He felt that longing again, that had once been so foreign to him a short while ago. She wrapped her arms around his waist and started to pull him down. He kissed her deeper and began to lean into her, but stopped himself.  
  
"What's wrong?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I'm not doing this again," he said.  
  
"Squall!" she groaned.  
  
"Alright. But only on one condition," he replied.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't question my feelings about you tomorrow. I don't want to go through this everyday."  
  
She laughed. "Of course. You definately have a deal."  
  
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Rinoa awoke to a pleasant morning. The sun cast a beautiful glow upon the room and she had never been so relaxed in all her life. A small smile crept over her lips, and she rolled over to look at Squall, who was still sleeping.  
  
At that moment, that beautiful, peaceful moment, the door burst open and in walked Fujin and the strange woman who they had met the day before.  
  
Fujin suddenly pulled a Gunblade out from behind her back and ran at the bed where Rinoa lay horrified, and Squall was still asleep. She plunged the Gunblade into Squall's chest, who never even had the chance to wake up. As Rinoa opened her mouth to scream, she recognized the Gunblade as being Squall's. The lion symbol on it was unmistakable. More over, she realized she had seen it before.  
  
Before Rinoa had time to finish her scream, the strange woman stepped forward and pointed a finger at her, while mouthing words in a language Rinoa was not familiar with.  
  
Rinoa felt a pressure building in her chest and a stinging in her eyes as she realized Squall was dead. How would he feel about being killed by his own Gunblade?  
  
Just when she though the awful feeling in her chest would cause her to explode, her eyes snapped open, and she found herself locked up in chains in a dark, damp room.  
  
"Welcome back to life, Princess," the woman said. "I suppose now would be an appropriate time to tell you my name. I am Ultimecia. And you are my chance to have revenge upon those who have wronged me for so long."  
  
"What are you going to do to me?" Rinoa asked in a trembling voice. "What have you done with Squall?"  
  
She smiled slightly in a manner that sent chills of fear down Rinoa's spine. "You'll see, Princess, you'll see. All in due time."  
  
Fujin entered the room then, carrying a black leather jacket with her. Rinoa knew immediately that it was Squall's. They'd been set up. Fujin tossed it to the ground, which was slick and moldy from the water that had gathered there. As it hit the ground, something long and silver fell out of it and clattered to the floor. Fujin bent down to inspect it, and gasped as she saw what it was.  
  
"IT 'S HIM!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Who?" Ultimecia asked in her cold, dark voice.  
  
With trembling hands, Fujin picked it up, and held it high for Ultimecia to see. "LION."  
  
A black scowl came over Ultimecia's face, "It is him, isn't it? We'll have to rid ourselves from him, quickly, before he does something!"  
  
Rinoa squinted her eyes to see through the darkness better, and realized the object in question was the necklace she had bought while at the Mountain People's market.  
  
Ultimecia walked over to a stone table and picked something up from it. It was Squall's Gunblade, much to Rinoa's horror. It was just like her dream. She handed it to Fujin with a nod, and Fujin walked out of the room with it.  
  
Rinoa shut her eyes tightly again, feeling her mind begin to scream for him.  
  
(Please Squall) she thought desperately. (Get out of here while you can.)  
  
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Squall's eyes snapped open as a familiar voice entered his head. He turned over to see if Rinoa was asleep, and was starteled to see that she was gone. The voice came again, this time with more urgency in it.  
  
(Rinoa...?) he wondered.  
  
As he looked around the room, he noticed that things were knocked over and out of place, as if there'd been a struggle. Of course, by now, he had realized that something was wrong. He quickly stood from the bed and put his clothes on, then started out the door.  
  
As he was turning the knob, it stopped suddenly, and he felt someone turning it from the otherside. He puched the door open just a crack, and just long enough to see who was on the otherside. It was Fujin.  
  
(Get out!) he heard Rinoa's voice yell in his mind. (Fujin's going to kill you!)  
  
Fujin was still on the other side of the door, trying to open it. He opened the door quickly the slammed it shut again, taking her by surprise. Then he wheeled around and ran for the window. He was on the second story, but there was tree right below, so he jumped down to it, then climbed down the rest of the way.  
  
He dodged around a wall as Fujin stuck her head out the window. When she didn't see him, she lowered herself out the window and down the tree. Before she could get very far on foot, Squall jumped out from behind the wall, snatched his Gunblade out of her hands, and pressed the blade to her thoat.  
  
"Where is Rinoa?" he demanded.  
  
"NO TELL," she said, though she was trembling in terror.  
  
He shoved her into the side of the castle and pressed the blade harder into her flesh. "Where?!" he growled.  
  
"DUNGEON. BELOW CASTLE."  
  
Squall grabbed her roughly by the wrist and began dragging her inside. "You had better not be lying to me, or I WILL kill you."  
  
Fujin nodded quietly as he pulled her along angrily to the dungeon which she had pointed out. As he reached it, he shoved Fujin down the stairs, causing her to stumble.  
  
"Fujin what is the meaning of this disturbance?!" Ultimecia demanded angrily as she turned to confront the frightened girl. Her mouth dropped open when she saw Squall, Gunblade in hand.  
  
"Let Rinoa go," he said through gritted teeth.  
  
Ultimecia went pale and her body started to tremble slightly. She began to take on an older, inhuman appearance. "You may have won this time, Lionheart," she said in a hoarse, ragged voice, "but the battle is not yet over."  
  
With that, she dissapeared into a cloud of black smoke, leaving Fujin to deal with her problem alone.  
  
Squall walked over to where Rinoa was chained up and freed her, asking her if she was okay.  
  
"I'm fine," she answered. "But how did you know?"  
  
"It's weird. It was like I could here your voice," he replied.  
  
Rinoa decided not to say anything. Now was not the time nor the place. If she ever decided to, that is. Was this whole thing about her powers? Of course. It had to be.  
  
"Let's just get out of here," Rinoa said and picked up his leather jacket, along with the necklace, from the floor. "Look what I found," she said, tossing him his jacket.  
  
He smiled, happy to have it returned to him, but scrunched his nose up at it. "Geez, what did they do to it? It smells like shit!"  
  
She giggled and started to shove the necklace in her pocket, but Squall stopped it, saying, "What's that?"  
  
She held it up for him to see. "It's just something I bought when we were having our little visit with the mountain people."  
  
Squall studied it closely then said, "That looks like the symbol on my Gunblade."  
  
"Does it?" she asked, trying to act like she hadn't realized that. "Well, when Ultimecia saw it, she freaked out. It seems like she's afraid of you."  
  
Squall shrugged, "Well, whatever the case may be, let's just get out of here."  
  
They left the dungeon behind, leaving a quivering Fujin behind, cowering against the wall. Luckily, Saiph was stilled tied up outside, so they rode away from the castle, into the nearby jungle.  
  
"The battle's not over yet," a voice repeated from out of nowhere. "Not anywhere near."  
  
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A/N: No suckiness!!!!!!! Unless you, the reader, thinks so. Anyway, R&R!!!!!! Hope you enjoyed. 


	7. Impending Fate

A/N: Here I am again. Despite a serious lack in ratings. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.....  
  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Squall and Rinoa had been riding for several hours when, at last, they stopped. Unfortunately, the stop wasn't made willingly. After such a long time of riding through jungle and forest, they had come to a large stone wall.  
  
By this point, Rinoa had fallen asleep against Squall's back, and was snooring lightly. He turned around and tapped her on the shoulder, trying to wake her from her peaceful slumber.  
  
"Come on, Rin, wake up," he said, shaking her. Her eyes started to flutter open, but quickly closed again. "Rinoa!" he half-shouted.  
  
She groggily lifted her head. "....What?"  
  
"Geez, I thought you were never gonna wake up. Is there some reason you're sleeping so much?"  
  
She sleepily narrowed her eyes at him. "YOU were the one that kept me up all last night. It's your own fault."  
  
"Whatever," he grumbled as he dismounted Saiph. "We've come to a wall."  
  
"A wall? A wall of what?"  
  
"That's what I'm trying to see," he replied, carefully lifting himself up until he could see above the top. "Oh Shit!" he exclaimed.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"This is your father's palace."  
  
"Then we better get out of here, fast."  
  
Squall nodded and mounted the Chocobo once again. Just as he did, Saiph twisted his head to the left and began to sniff the air as he stared intently at something. Rinoa rubbed her eyes and squinted to get a better look through the surrounding foliage, having seen before that Saiph had good instincts. She began to notice flashes of bright red and gold in the gaps between trees. It occured to her then, that red and gold was the color of Emperor Caraway's soldiers.  
  
"Squall, move!" she exclaimed. "It's my father's soldiers!"  
  
With a crack of the reins, they were riding as fast as they could in the opposite direction that the soldiers were coming from. The only problem was, their horses were faster than any Chocobo. They wouldn't get very far.  
  
"Squall, we've got a problem," Rinoa said to him nervously as she turned to see her father's officers gaining on them.  
  
"I know!" he exclaimed frustratedly. "Just let me think!"  
  
She hugged on to him tighter, fear sinking in. She didn't want to go back. She'd rather die. On the other hand, she didn't want Squall to get hurt. Maybe if they caught her, they'd leave leave him alone? She knew that it wasn't likely, but all she could do was hope.  
  
She turned around again, just to see that they were even closer. Too close. Should she tell him now? Would this be her last chance?  
  
"Squall...There's something I need to tell you," she said.  
  
"Not now, Rinoa. There's no time," he growled back.  
  
She looked away from him, then. She knew he had a point, but still. What if she was never given another chance. She had turned her head one last time, seeing that they were only a few short moments of catching up, when suddenly, she felt something jerk on the reins from below and pull Saiph through a dense clump of vegitation. On the other side of it, was a small, hooded figure.  
  
The stranger lifted their head, revealing a small, female face. "There's no time," she said. "Follow me, quickly!"  
  
"What makes you think we trust you?" Squall demanded.  
  
"You can take your chances with me, or you can wait for that group of soldiers to come back around, which will be fairly soon. What's your desicion?"  
  
Squall sighed in defeat. "Fine. I guess we have no other choice."  
  
She grabbed Saiph's reins again and quickly led them to a large, stone rimmed hole in the ground. She quickly jerked them inside, just as the sound of hooves was coming closer, and pulled a handle attached to a sliding stone that moved to cover the hole.  
  
Inside, was a wide, open cavern that was decorated like a home. There was furniture, a hollowed out space where a fire was currently blazing, and long curtain that acted like doors to other rooms. Perhaps one of the most peculiar things about the place, however, was the large, hollowed out space near the door, that was entirely empty, save the wide variety of greens that covered its walls and floor.  
  
After shutting the door/stone, the girl turned around and lowered her hood, revealing short, unruly brown hair and eyes.  
  
"Hi," she said, smiling. "My name's Ellone. I'm an official outlaw of the Caraway Empire."  
  
"Is that why you helped us?" Rinoa asked.  
  
Ellone nodded. "Anything to hurt Emperor," she said. "By the way, you can let him go now," she said, gesturing towrd Saiph. "That room over there with all the green stuff growing in it is a place for Chocobos. It's filled with Gyshahl Greens," she exlpained. "You see, sometimes I take in stray or wounded Chocobos I find roaming the forest."  
  
Squall nodded slightly, still uncomfortable with this stranger, and let Saiph go.  
  
"So how is saving us going to hurt the empire?" Rinoa asked cautiously, hoping that maybe this girl didn't know who she was.  
  
Ellone shrugged. "Well, it might not hurt the empire, but obviously they're hunting you for something, too. I try to help people out that are suffering under the oppression of Emperor Caraway. Now sit down, if you like. I'm not going to hurt you."  
  
Uneasily, Rinoa and Squall sat down on chairs across from the couch were Ellone was sitting.  
  
"So, if you don't mind my asking, why are you an outlaw?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Well, I guess because I'm a rebel of the empire. You see, it all started some place far away from here, actually. In a rival empire. At the time, this really old woman was ruling, and she was really cruel. For some reason, she wanted me and my family dead. She succeeded in killing my father, mother, and I guess my younger brother as well. I managed to escape, and came here hoping for a new life. Well, not long after I came, the Emperor was celebrating his daughters birthday, when I saw her there. The Empress that had killed my family. After that, it seemed like she was always there. And the more she stayed, the crueler Emperor Caraway got. Until finally, I rebelled."  
  
"So you think Caraway is the way he is because of this Empress that killed your family?" Rinoa asked, her curiosity peaked.  
  
Ellone nodded. "I know it. I don't think she's an empress anymore, though. And rumor was, she's a sorceress."  
  
"You think she has control over Caraway?"  
  
"It's possible. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry. I think I'll cook something. Make yourselves at home, look around. It must be awfully dull for the two of you to just sit there," she replied, standing up and walking over to the fire, next to which a pot lay.  
  
Squall just shrugged and asked, "Do you have a bath room?"  
  
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After finding the bath room, and properly relieving himself, he came out to find that Rinoa was no longer in the main room. He decided to take Ellone's advice and look around for her. He found her by going through a small opening at the back of the room which led into a large, cave with blue stone walls. There was a wide, crystal clear lake inside it that ran out a tiny opening at the very back of the cave. Next to the lake, there was a wide strip of stone as the floor. That's where he found Rinoa sitting.  
  
"What's up?" he asked as he sat down beside her.  
  
She gazed up at the stalactites slowly dripping water down to the floor. "Nothing much."  
  
Even as thick-headed as Squall was at times, he could tell there was something wrong. So, he decided he would just come right out and ask her.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," she told him.  
  
Then something occured to him. "I'm, a.... sorry about snapping at you before. I just wanted to make sure we made it out okay. What was it that you needed to tell me?"  
  
Rinoa looked back at him and debated on whether or not to tell him what she hadn't wanted to before. She was afraid of what reaction he might have. "It wasn't anything really. I was just worried, was all."  
  
"Okay," he said slowly, uncertainly.  
  
She pulled the necklace with the lion head on it, out of her pocket then and studied it. "You know, not only does it look like your Gunblade, but it just fits you."  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"The mighty lion....It seems just like you."  
  
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked, studying her face.  
  
"No." She grinned and slipped the necklace around over his head and onto his neck. "So long as you promise me one thing."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You'll be my lion, and only MY lion."  
  
He leaned closer to her until their foreheads were gently touching. "I promise."  
  
With that, he leaned in and began kissing her gently. She pulled away from him after a moment, smiling, and suddenly jumped into the water.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Squall demanded, with a slight laugh.  
  
"Swimming," she replied, doing a few back strokes. "Come in, the water's pretty warm."  
  
He shook his head. "I think I'll pass."  
  
She swam back over to him until she was right in front of him, then lifted herself partially out of the water so that she was eye level with him. "You know you want to," she whispered before wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him into a a long, passionate kiss. Suddenly, in the middle of the kiss, she pulled him down, into the water with her.  
  
"Oh, you think this is funny?" he asked as he watched her laughing histarically.  
  
She nodded. "Yes, definately."  
  
"I'm gonna get you for this," he said menacingly as he began to swim toward her.  
  
"You have to catch me first," she taunted, swimming away from him.  
  
They swam in circles for several moments, until Squall suddenly changed direction and she ended up running into him.  
  
"I've got you now," he said in a dark voice that almost scared her. "You owe me."  
  
"Owe you what?" she asked breathlessly, as she was both scared and excited.  
  
He started to kiss again, this time with more urgency and passion. After a moment he broke the kiss, leaving his lips just centimeters from hers, and said, "You know, I always wondered what it would be like to make love in the water." He kissed her again and started to run his hand up her shirt.  
  
"Squall, we can't. Not now. We're in someone else's house."  
  
"We'll be quick," he replied.  
  
She slapped his shoulder playfully and said, "You horny little pervert! She'll hear us."  
  
"Ignore the details," he said and started to kiss her again.  
  
"Oh my! I'm sooo sorry!" they heard someone exclaim from behind. They turned to see Ellone standing at the door with her back turned. The two lovers quickly parted, embarresed.  
  
"It's alright, Ellone," Rinoa said.  
  
"Um, well, I just wanted to tell you guys that the food is ready."  
  
"Okay," Rinoa replied as both she and Squall swam toward the edge. "We'll be right there."  
  
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After they had eaten, Ellone asked to speak to Squall in private. He complied, uneasily, and went out to the cave area with her, leaving an angry, jealous Rinoa behind.  
  
Once out there, Ellone said, "Would you mind telling me your full name, please?"  
  
"What does it matter?" he asked.  
  
She looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Just tell me. I have to know."  
  
"My name's Squall Leonhart. Why do you ask?"  
  
"It is you," she said, tears filling her eyes. "You're.....my brother."  
  
"What?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"You're my brother. The one that I was never sure was killed or not."  
  
"There must be some mistake," he said firmly. "Seifer Almasy had my parents murdered."  
  
"That's what you were made to believe. But that wasn't true. Chu Yun must have wanted you for something."  
  
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "You can believe in all of this if you want, but I am not anybody's brother."  
  
"Squall, there isn't anything I can say or do to convince you, I know. I won't try. But there is something you must know about our family line, believe in it or not. You see, I'm psychic, so I can see certain things about people."  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure."  
  
"Just listen a minute! Powers like that run in our family. But you're more powerful than I am. Much more. Which is good. You'll need it. Because that girl you're with, Rinoa, is powerful, too. More powerful than anyone could ever imagine. Someone wants her powers. It's up to you whether or not you do anything to help her. But you'll need your powers if you intend to."  
  
"This is such bull shit," Squall said, rolling his eyes again. "I don't have powers, Rinoa doesn't have powers, and you don't have powers. So just leave me alone, okay?"  
  
Ellone sighed. "Fine. Go do what you will. I'm done trying. Just please, keep in mind what I told you."  
  
"Fine, if it'll get you off my back," he growled.  
  
He returned to the main room to find Rinoa glaring murderously at him. He arched an eyebrow and walked over to sit beside her on the couch.  
  
"So what did she say to you?" she asked.  
  
"She says I'm her long lost brother, and that I have powers, and you have powers, and a bunch of other stupid shit that isn't true."  
  
Rinoa felt her heart sink into her chest. It was time. "Well, about that," she began."  
  
She was interrupted by a sudden pounding on Ellone's camoflouged front door.  
  
"Open up, in the name of Emperor Caraway!" a voice called from outside.  
  
"Oh shit!" Rinoa exclaimed, jumping up from the couch.  
  
Ellone ran into the room, panic spreading over her face. "We have to get out of her, now!" she hissed in a quiet voice.  
  
"But how?" Squall demanded.  
  
"We'll have to go through the opening where the water goes out in the back," she replied. "I hope Saiph can swim."  
  
"Well, he's gonna have to learn," Rinoa said, grabbing his reins and pulling him up from his resting place on the floor. "We won't get very far without him."  
  
They headed out the back way, and, as it turned out, Saiph didn't mind the water to much.  
  
Once they had made it outside, Ellone said, "You guys go ahead. I'm good at hiding, I'll be okay."  
  
"We can't leave you here!" Rinoa protested. "They're going to destroy your home. And what if they do find you?"  
  
"Trust me, they won't," she replied. "As soon as I can, I'm heading back to my home town. They won't find me there."  
  
"But we can't-" Rinoa began again.  
  
"You can and you will. Now hurry and go!" Ellone said urgently.  
  
"Come on, Rin," Squall said, tugging at her arm as he cast Ellone a thankful look.  
  
They rode away once again, into the quickly fading daylight, only to have their ride cut short by another group of Imperial soldiers. Of course, Squall tried to fight them off, not that he had his beloved Gunblade back at his side. But they were horribly outnumbered.  
  
They knocked Squall unconcious and began dragging him back to the palace, along with Rinoa, whom they had gagged and bound.  
  
As they began to march toward the palace, one of the officers leaned forward and said to Rinoa, "Don't be worried about your father. I don't think you'll have much trouble with him. Oh, and by the way, Ultimecia sends her greetings."  
  
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A/N: Yes, I know it took me forever to update. I assure you, as soon as my poor, tormented brain produced an idea that was worthy of consideration, I thought it our and typed it up. So REVIEW!!!!!! Please? I know it.....was bad (I did NOT say sucks), but bare with me, please? Thanl you!!!!! 


	8. Trimulative of Destiny

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Ashbear, a wonderful writer, and Mayanoka, an excellent inspiration, as well as someone who hasn't updated her fic in a very long time. Where's it at? I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Linkin Park, the greatest rock band of all time and my greatest musical muse.....I don't know why, I just felt like it, so don't ask.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
"Darkness is the poison that fills me, corrupting the life that courses through my veins. Hate is the shadow upon my doorway, sealing the fate that was forced upon me. Evil creates the wings upon my back, weighing me down as much as they lift me up. Revenge is the acid that eats away my humanity, until I am nothing more to you than a creature to be caged."  
  
Words rang out in Rinoa's head as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the room around her. It was dark, and the place itself was silent, but this was no consolation to her. She would rather had been in the middle of a screaming crowd. But the place she most wanted to be was with Squall.  
  
Rinoa stood from the bed she had been laying on and crossed her room to the balcony, so that she could look out. It was horribly overcast outside, which matched Rinoa's mood. Here she was, locked in her own tower that she had grown up in. There were words running through her head, and visions flashing before her mind's eye. She didn't know what Ultimecia wanted from her, but she knew it had to have something to with her powers. If only she'd warned Squall before. And Squall.... she wasn't sure where he was. Unfortunately, she had the sinking feeling that he was dead.  
  
"Squall...." she murmered as she gazed forlornly over the empty square of the palace. "We'd only just gotten together. And already, they've taken you away."  
  
"Oh, don't worry too much about him, Princess," came a voice from behind her. "Worrying over dead people doesn't bring them back."  
  
Rinoa whirled around to find herself face to face with Seifer.  
  
"What did you do to him?!" she demanded angrily.  
  
"Put him out of his misery," was the reply.  
  
Rinoa smacked Seifer hard across the face, and started to leap at him. He grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her to floor. He raised his fist into the air, about to bring it down on her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
He turned to see an old looking woman with gray-streaked black hair looking at him.  
  
"Not now, Seifer," she said, shaking her head. "We've other matters to attend to."  
  
He scowled down at her before turning around and walking off. The older woman peered down at her with a small grin on her face.  
  
"Pick yourself up, dear. You look disgraceful."  
  
"Who are you?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Don't you remember me?" the woman asked. "We met only the day before yesterday. I am Ultimecia."  
  
"What do you want with me?"  
  
"You shall see soon enough," Ultimecia answered.  
  
"How did you come to be here? Where's my father?"  
  
"He is dead. Seifer thought you might end up here, and came to wage war upon your father. Shortly after your father's death, I arrived here. Thankfully, you also arrived here. I convinced Seifer to work with me. It is much easier that way, don't you think?"  
  
Rinoa was speechless. For the majority of her life, she'd thought that things would be easier if her father were dead. Then, she would be free of everything. Free to live the life she wanted. But now that it had finally happened, she wasn't sure what to feel.  
  
"What did you do with Squall?" she asked after a moment, fear creeping into her voice.  
  
"He is being properly taken kare of."  
  
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Two women walked side by side, chatting idley as they made their way down a mostly empty stone street. There was a tall, black haired woman on one side, walking with a yellow flower in her hand. The other had dark brown hair which she kept pinned up.  
  
"So, you ran away from home?" asked the raven-haired one.  
  
"Yes. That was a year ago. I've been out on my own ever since."  
  
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you run away?"  
  
The brown haired one turned to her with a look of pain shining in her large brown eyes. "If I tell you, you can't tell another soul. Not ever."  
  
A loud crack and the feeling of burning pain distorted the vision, until suddenly it was something else.  
  
"You'll be my knight, won't you? Always?"  
  
"I wish I could. But don't you think you should stop the destruction spree? Julia's moved on now. She's getting married to an emperor. Maybe you should do the same?"  
  
She looked up at her companion with tear-filled eyes. "What are you trying to say?"  
  
He sighed for a moment before taking her hand. "You and I.... we're the same. Both of us have these powers. So does Julia. I know that things have seemed wonderful the past year. The three of us being friends, and you and I going out. But.... we've all got to move on. Times change. I... I've been seeing someone else."  
  
She closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely. "Who?"  
  
"Her name's Raine. I've been seeing her for a long time. Longer than you, in fact. And I..... she's pregnant. And I think I love her."  
  
"Did Julia know about this when she introduced me to you?"  
  
He nodded solemnly. "Yes. She thought I'd really grow to love you. I'm sorry."  
  
Another crack of blazing pain brought with it another vision.  
  
A black haired woman stood in a richly decorated room. She wore a gold headress and extravagent make-up.  
  
"So. You broke my heart. And now you've come to kill me."  
  
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to dethrone you. We are. This destruction and pain has to stop."  
  
"You brought it on yourself!" she snapped. "You and Julia. You decieved me. What more do I have left? Just this empire. Just the power."  
  
"You don't deserve it. You never did. You have to leave this place now. And never return. If you do, I will hunt you down personally, and kill you."  
  
"You were supposed to be my knight. What happened?"  
  
"I saw you for who you really were. Now go. And stay away."  
  
Yet another sharp pang brought Squall out of his unconciousness. He sat on a cold stone floor, with his arms chained up over his head. Blood streaked down his face, which was partially swollen. A tall man stood over him, with a pair of brass knuckles on his left hand.  
  
"Finally awake, Squall? Good. I was hoping you'd be up soon."  
  
Squall blinked a couple times and peered up into the darkness above him.  
  
"Seifer," he growled as best as he could, contempt clear in his voice. "What have you done with Rinoa?"  
  
"She's in good hands. In fact, I was just visiting her a minute ago. Yes, she's in good hands. Ultimecia will take good care of her. And after her powers have been tested, Ultimecia will take them, combining them with her own so that she will be more powerful than anyone could ever imagine."  
  
"What makes you think that Rinoa has powers?"  
  
"Her mother. She was a personal friend of Ultimecia once. She had great powers, which were said to be hereditary."  
  
"You better not do anything to hurt her."  
  
"Oh don't worry. We won't hurt her. And when we kill her for her powers, I promise she won't feel a thing."  
  
"Asshole! You dare even touch her and I swear I'll-"  
  
"You'll what?" Seifer interrupted. "You're in no position to make threats. Why do you care about her anyway? From what I remember of you, you never cared about anybody but yourself."  
  
"Don't touch her, Seifer. This is your only warning."  
  
Seifer laughed. "Whatever you say, pal. I've got to go now, if you don't mind. I've a princess to attend to."  
  
Seifer then turned and walked away, leaving Squall to sit there, his head pounding and his body weak from lack of blood. Everything was slowly going dark, and his last thoughts before his world was swallowed by oblivion, was one of regret. Regret that he couldn't save Rinoa.  
  
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"If you're going to kill me, then just do it. There's no sense in making this any worse," Rinoa said, in a tear-filled voice.  
  
"What have I done to make this so bad?" Ultimecia asked calmly.  
  
"You killed him didn't you?" she asked. "You killed Squall. And you plan to kill me, too. So why not just do it already?"  
  
"I shall, I assure you. When the time comes. And what do you care about him, anyway?"  
  
Rinoa didn't reply, but only glared up at the evil woman angrily.  
  
"I see," she said. "Well, don't blame me. This is all for the sake of revenge."  
  
"Revenge against who?" Rinoa asked, curiosity over coming her contempt.  
  
"If your mother was still alive, I'd tell you to ask her. Or if Squall's father was still alive, I'd tell you to ask him." She suddenly fell silent and walked over to the balcony, gazing out to the scenery below, though from the look in her eyes, that was not what she was seeing. "He was the only one who kould defeat me," she said in a distant voice. "The only one who would ever have the power. Or so I thought. His son.... there's something in him that frightens me. That symbol of his. The lion. It was his father's. It is a sign of power."  
  
"You're saying that Squall's dead father had powers, and that Squall has powers, too? All because of that necklace he's wearing?"  
  
Ultimecia whirled around sharply, glaring angrily at her. "I am not answering your questions. I'll be leaving now."  
  
She stormed out of the room, leaving Rinoa to sit and think. There was no way she could escape. There were to many guards around. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her mind of Squall. She missed him more then she ever could have expected. No, she didn't just miss him. It was just like she had wanted to tell him before. She loved him.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rustling from her curtains. She spun around to see the tall shadow of a man standing before her.  
  
Rinoa jumped back. "Who are you?"  
  
"My name's Laguna. I'm here to help you."  
  
"Yeah right," Rinoa snapped. "As if I'm going to trust you. Seifer sent you to mess with my mind, didn't he? That bastard!"  
  
"No. I've come to help you against him. I'm Squall's father."  
  
"Bull shit! Squall's father is dead."  
  
"I was never dead. I thought the rest of my family was dead. So I ran away. And recently I've discovered that my son and daughter are still alive. So, I'm here to help."  
  
"There's no one to help," Rinoa said, her voice cracking a little at the end. "Squall's dead."  
  
"Did you see him die?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then he's not really dead. Not until you have proof. And if you want proof that I'm his father," he paused for a moment before pulling something of his finger and tossing it to Rinoa. It was a ring with the design of a lion head on it. "It's the family symbol."  
  
"So I was told," Rinoa replied before tossing the ring back.  
  
"Well, let's go."  
  
"Go where?"  
  
"To rescue Squall."  
  
"Are you fucking crazy? The are guards all over the place. How did you get in here, anyway?" she asked.  
  
A slight grin came over his face. "A little thing called powers. I have them, and you have them. You are Julia's daughter, right?"  
  
"Yeah. But how did you know her?"  
  
"She was a good friend of mine a long time ago..... So was Ultimecia."  
  
Rinoa let out a small gasp. "You knew both of them?"  
  
He nodded. "We'll discuss it later. For now, let's go."  
  
"But I don't know how to use my powers," she replied quickly.  
  
"You are very powerful. So all you have to do, is stretch out your hand and concentrate on what it is that you want to be done. For instance, that door over there that leads to the stair case is locked. Stretch out your hand toward it, and concentrate on knocking it down."  
  
Rinoa did as he said. For a moment nothing happened. Then suddenly, the door flew out of the wall, bringing the frame with it, and falling on the two guards outside.  
  
"Very good!" Laguna exclaimed. "Now let's hurry and go!"  
  
They managed to get outside, with little trouble. After quick discusion, they had decided that the first place they should check would be the dungeon. They snuck across the big, empty square, and hid around a corner, waiting until the cost was clear.  
  
"You watch my back," Laguna said as he peeked around the corner to the door that led to the underground chambers.  
  
Rinoa nodded and watched as he slipped inside. Rinoa was about to follow after him, when she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind.  
  
"It's time," Seifer's voice whispered in her ear.  
  
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A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short. The next one will probably be the last. And sorry it took me so long to update. Between my other fic, school, and planning my next novel, everything's been hectic. So review! Please? Hope it was good, sorry if it wasn't. Review!!!!! 


	9. Building the Tower

Last Chapter Dedication: Anthony67, blazinangelwings, Dark Angel, Katie, Angelprinzess29, Cats eye, devilman14, Rinoa Heartilly, Tiffany, Mayanoka (as always), Ashbear, Nihara, Dunno, ?????????? (brilliant name, might I add), digi*girl, Rika, Nnnnnn, Angeldarling76, Annonymous-how the hell do you spell it, Who am I?, Laura Hurely, joanna, wildrinoa, Jennifer, Sakura- princess, Rinoa J., AnGeL-WiNgS, Briarlynn, Sisi, Chibi-chan, Dimwit, Cherry, Rem, Squinoa luver, Rinoafreak, Exile87, Reckor Ball, & Radical Ed. ****Sorry if I didn't mention you. I couldn't access one page of my reviews, due to computer trouble. But even if I didn't list you, you review(s) were appreciated just as much. And to my personal friends, I did this in the order of the actual reviews, so don't feel bad if you're not first on the list.  
  
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Chapter 9  
  
Rinoa was slowly led back the way she had come, with Seifer squeezing her shoulder the entire time. Laguna never realized that Rinoa didn't follow behind him. He was too wrapped up in trying to find his son.  
  
They went through the front room and into was once a sitting room. It was completely different now. The room was circular, as it had always been. But parts of the burgendy carpet had been torn up. There was a large torch in the center of the room with a blazing fire in it, and on the other side of it, was a golden throne, where Ultimecia sat.  
  
Seifer shoved Rinoa to her knees in front of the over-sized torch and looked up at Ultimecia.  
  
"Here she is, Master. Just as you wanted."  
  
"And Leonhart?" she asked.  
  
"He's still chained up in the dungeon. He won't be bothering us."  
  
"You haven't executed him, yet? Go and do it now. This is an order."  
  
Seifer grumbled slightly, but did as he was told, leaving Rinoa alone, frightened and worried, in front of Ultimecia.  
  
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Squall leaned back against the wall, his vision still blurry and his senses slow. He wasn't sure how, though he figured it to be acredited to these so-called powers of his, but he could feel Rinoa's fear. In a twisted way, it gave him hope. At least she was still alive. But there was nothing he could do for her, now. Or was there?  
  
He decided, that though he wasn't sure he believed he had powers, that he would try it. He wasn't sure he could ever forgive himself if he didn't save Rinoa. He couldn't put what he felt for her into words, but he knew he just couldn't let her die. It might kill him, too.  
  
So, after a moment's debate, he concentrated on breaking the chains around his wrist. At first, it didn't seem that anything was happening, other than his head starting to throb again. Then suddenly, the chains gave a loud screech and fell away, freeing him.  
  
Unfortunately, the loud noise attracted attention from the guards outside. Three of them rushed in, ready to beat Squall unconcious again. But his adrenalin was already pumping by that time, and he wasn't about to lose this fight.  
  
He threw a hard punch into the face of the man nearest to him, catching him by surprise. He back kicked the man coming up behind him, connecting with his temple. The other man he belted in the stomach, then rammed his head into the wall.  
  
Luckily, one of the guards had been carrying his prized Gunblade, because at that moment, Seifer strutted into the room with his usual smirk on his face, carrying his own Gunblade.  
  
Not a word passed between them, before they ran at each other, Gunblades drawn and ready to kill. They came crashing together with the force of two freight trains, moving toward each other on the same track. Their blades clashed together violently, sparks flying as metal slid on metal. Seifer thought he would be able to keep up with Squall, but he was horribly out of practice. After all, Squall was a soldier who depended on his skills to survive, and Seifer was the son of an emperor, who fought in his free time. It wasn't long before Squall had knocked the Gunblade from Seifer's hand, sending it flying across the room.  
  
"So you think that's it, huh? You think you got me?" Seifer asked.  
  
He reached his hand into his coat, bringing out a gun. Squall brought his Gunblade down in one swift, powerful movement and drove his blade into Seifer's chest, and across his shoulder. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, and clutching at the wound. Squall gave him one final glance before stepping over his fallen body, to the outside.  
  
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"Is there anything more you liked to say, Rinoa?" Ultimecia asked as she stared and the trembling princess through the tall flames.  
  
"I have nothing to say to you," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.  
  
(Just that I'll miss you, Squall. And I love you) she added silently.  
  
She lowered her head to the ground, her thoughts filled with him. From the moment they first met, to right before their capture. She could still feel him, deep within her soul. He was alive, and fighting for her.  
  
(Then I'll fight for him, too) she decided, before looking back up to Ultimecia with a steady gaze. (I have the power.)  
  
She took note of the heavy crystal chandalier that hung high upon the ceiling, and began to concentrate on it.  
  
"You would rather not see your death when it komes?" Ultimecia asked.  
  
Rinoa didn't answer. There was suddenly a slight rumbling from above, causing Ultimecia to gaze upward. The chandalier shook, causing the crystals to make sharp, high-pitched sounds as they shook violently. There was a loud crack, as the chain holding it up snapped, and the chandalier came down.  
  
It had been Rinoa's intention to cause it to fall on Ultimecia, but instead it missed and fell somewhat to the side, knocking the large torch over, into a tapestry that hung on the wall. The next thing she knew, the room was on fire.  
  
"You imbecile!" Ultimecia yelled. "See what you've done!"  
  
As everything around them began to burn, Ultimecia launched herself at Rinoa in a last ditch attempt to take her powers. Rinoa dodged out of the way, and was nearly impaled by a piece of falling debris. It was a long, sharp, and thick sliver of wood. Perfect.  
  
Rinoa snatched it off the ground and stumbled over to wear Ultimecia lay on her back, dazed with her own rage.  
  
As Rinoa held her weapon over her head, Ultimecia glared up at her. "Your mother knew that the man I loved was in love with someone else when she introduced me to him. She stabbed me in the back. Then he, Laguna, my first and only love, had me condemned to live alone, locked away for the rest of my life. I want the power to take my life back. I want revenge. But you think I'm evil for that?"  
  
"I don't think you're evil," Rinoa answered sincerely. "All of us get hurt. None of us go through life without it happening. And we have every right to be angry. But what right do you, or any one else, have to judge? If you had a chance to undo all you've done, to me, and to Squall, would you?"  
  
Ultimecia gave a scowl darker than evil and said, "Darkness is the poison that fills me, corrupting the life that flows through my veins. Hate is the shadow upon my doorway, sealing my the fate that has been forced upon me. Evil creates the wings upon me, weighing me down as much as they lift me up. Revenge is the acid that eats away my humanity, until I am nothing more to you than a creature to be caged. My soul is damned. My heart is rotten. If you let me go now, and it will be the last mistake you ever make."  
  
Rinoa nodded slightly, then brought her weapon down into her chest, ending Ultimecia's misery. Then she ran out as fast as she could, choking on the smoke and floating ashes that was once her tower.  
  
Once she was outside, she was relieved to see Squall coming up from the dungeon. She took a deep breath, and ran to him, colliding violently with him when they finally met.  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaimed, looking up at his face. "What happened?!" she asked, gently touching the bruises and sweliings on his face.  
  
"Seifer," he answered. "What about Ultimecia? Is everything alright?"  
  
She nodded. "Ultimecia's dead."  
  
Squall looked up and noticed the tower. "Holy shit! Your tower's burning down, Rinoa!"  
  
"I know," she said. "Let it burn. I was never very fond of the place anyway. It's a bad reminder of the past. I want to think of the future.  
  
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The next few days passed by very slowly. Rinoa was stuck with the task of trying to reorganize everything at the palace, and plan a party for the new empress, which was her. Squall, on the other hand, was busy trying to recooperate. He was very tired, and weak from his battle and his day in the dungeon. In truth, the journey as a whole had taken a lot out of him. Well, both of them really, but especially him. He slept for a full day straight, and was ordered to rest after he woke up. Laguna, who had gotten lost while trying to find Rinoa after he'd discovered she was gone, was set to the task of inviting various people to the big celebration that was in planning. And Seifer, who managed to survive his wound after the palace staff took care of him, surrendered, grudgingly, to the soon-to-be empress, and swore his alligience to her.  
  
The day of the celebration, Edea and her family arrived at the palace. Rinoa was glad they were early. There was something she needed to talk to them about.  
  
Later that evening, after all the preparation was finished, the large celebration was held in honor of the newly appointed empress. As expected, she made a very dramatic entrance after everyone had already gathered in the palace square.  
  
She was dressed elegantly in a long white drees that flowed around her legs and wrapped around her neck. A small silver crown adorned her head, sparkeling in the festive lighting. Two white feathers were braided into strands of her hair that framed either side of her face, and a sheer veil with white pearls knitted into it in erratic patterns was attached to her crown and spread to cover the entire length of her raven black hair, mimicking the midnight sky when it was littered with stairs.  
  
She was recieved with a wide round of applause from all the people that had come to see her claim the throne. Almost of all of the people they had encountered throughout the course of their adventure, from beginning to end, was there. Even Seifer, who had just barely recovered enough from his near-fatal wound to attend, though he was not amoung those that appluaded her. But much to her dissapointment, she didn't see Squall anywhere.  
  
After the official arrival was over, everyone spread out over the square, tending to their own business. As she began searching through the crowd for Squall, she came across Quistis, who was sitting by herself looking very down.  
  
"Are you okay?" Rinoa asked.  
  
She smiled slightly. "Just a little down is all. Congragulations, by the way. You and Squall are the purfect couple."  
  
"Oh," Rinoa said, nodding in understanding. "I see."  
  
"So you do? I knew you would figure it out. For nearly two years I chased after that boy. For as long as I've know him. But it seemed the only people he ever really saw were the superiors that gave him his orders. That is, until you came along. You were the first that he chose to see. The first he saw with his heart."  
  
Rinoa looked at her sympathetically. "You'll find someone, too. I just know it."  
  
Quistis smiled sadly and gave a nod. "Perhaps. Only time will tell."  
  
Rinoa nodded to her, then walked off, once again in search of Squall. Instead she had the misfortune to bump into a very grumpy Seifer.  
  
"Watch where you're walking, bitch!" he growled.  
  
"Shall I remind you," she began in an overly sweet voice, "that I am the Empress now, and the only reason you're alive right now, is because I showed pity on your sorry ass?"  
  
"Just leave me alone," he grumbled and started to push passed her.  
  
Suddenly, Rinoa was struck with an idea. "Hey wait!" she yelled as she ran to catch up with him. She grabbed him by the arm and began pulling him forward, ignoring his questioning looks.  
  
When she had finally reached her destination, she shoved Seifer in front of her, and grinned at the curious gypsy in front of them.  
  
"Quistis," she began, taking Sefier's hand and thrusting it at her, "this is Seifer. Seifer, this is Quistis. I'll leave you two alone to get acquainted."  
  
With that, she turned and walked away, a small smile playing on her lips. As she made her way through the crowd once again, she spotted Edea, and immediately went over to her.  
  
"Hi," she said as she approached her. "Um, about what we disscused earlier... I hate to bother you, but have you made a descicion yet?"  
  
Edea smiled beautifully, and said, "Yes, we have. And we've decided, that....we'll do it."  
  
Rinoa laughed in relief. "Great. Thank you so much. I knew you and Cid were perfect for the job."  
  
"It's no problem at all," Edea replied, pulling her into a warm, motherly embrace. "It's an honor, granduaghter."  
  
Rinoa smiled and patted her on the back. "Thank you. By the way, have you seen Squall anywhere?"  
  
Edea nodded and pointed to the bridge where Rinoa and Squall had first met. Rinoa thanked her again and walked off to find him.  
  
As she approached the bridge, she saw Squall's unmistakable silhouette against the moonlight. She slowly walked closer to him, seeing that his back was turned to her, looking out over the river and sipping wine.  
  
"Squall?" she asked in a quiet voice.  
  
He set his wine down at turned to look at her. "You look...gorgeous," he blurted out.  
  
She smiled. "Thank you."  
  
Just then, music began to play in the distance. Rinoa offered her hand to him and asked, "Dance with me?"  
  
He took her hand and began to dance with her, much in the same way they had danced the night they had met.  
  
"So," she began as he spun her around, "what are your plans after tonight?"  
  
He would've shrugged if it wouldn't have disrrupted the dance. "I'm going back to my home town. I guess I'll get acquainted with my father and sister, though I'm still not used to the idea. And now that the place isn't ruled by Chu Yun anymore, the place might not be so bad now. Maybe it will be different."  
  
Rinoa gave a slight sigh, but said, "Sounds good."  
  
"Yeah," Squall agreed half-heartedly. "And I'm sure you'll make a good Empress for your new Empire."  
  
"I might," she replied. "If I were staying."  
  
Squall stopped in mid-dance. "What?"  
  
"Well, I had a talk with Edea earlier, and tomorrow, there'll be a ceremony naming her and Cid the new Emperor, and Empress. I'm turning over my crown to them, and they're going to start working on making this land a democracy."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't want to be Empress," she answered.  
  
"Oh. So you'll still be staying here then?"  
  
"No. One of the reasons I don't want to be Empress is because I don't want to live the rest of my life here. I've already spent more time inside these walls that I ever wanted to."  
  
"Then where will you go?"  
  
"I want to go out and see the world," she said. "The world I caught a glimpse of during out little adventure."  
  
"Oh," he replied with a droop in his voice as he turned away from her to face the river again. "I'm sure you'll have fun."  
  
"D-do you really want to go back to your town?" she asked nervously.  
  
"I don't really want anything," he said.  
  
She lowered her head and tried to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat. The way he had made it sound, he really didn't care whether or not he ever saw her again. He didn't want her.  
  
"W-well...I....if....." she stammered in a tremulous voice.  
  
Suddenly he turned to face with desperation filling his eyes. "Marry me."  
  
"W-what?"  
  
"Marry me," he repeated, pleadingly. "Please?"  
  
She burst into relieved laughter and practically threw herself into his arms. "Of course I will."  
  
He held her tightly, letting out the breath that he'd been holding as he'd waited for her answer. "We can stay here until we get married, as soon as possible, and then go out and see the world. Just the two of us."  
  
"Yeah. And after we've seen the world we can settle down in your home town, near your father and sister. But," she sighed worriedly and slid her hands down to her stomach. "It might just be three of us."  
  
"Are...are you serious?!" he demanded.  
  
She wasn't sure how to take his reaction, but she assumed it was bad. "Well, it's too early to tell, really. It hasn't been that long. But, still, I just having this feeling...."  
  
He began to laugh. "So, I might just be a father, huh?"  
  
"Are you...mad?"  
  
He laughed again. "Of course not. I... I wanna have children with you. I want a family."  
  
"So do I," she said, smiling as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss.  
  
"Mmmm......Mrs. Leonhart," he groaned playfully.  
  
"I like the sound of that," she returned. "Now, come on. Let's go back to my room."  
  
"But you room-"  
  
"My new room. The Imperial bed room. But I only get to use it for tonight, since I'm handing over my crown tomorrow."  
  
"Then by all means, let's make the best of it."  
  
Rinoa's laughter rang out, into the night, sealing the fate of the happy new couple. They were now free to go off and build their own tower of dreams.  
  
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A/N: You ever get that feeling that your writing is just too sappy? I'm currently drowning in that feeling. But anyway, I hope it was good. It really wasn't the masterpiece I was hoping to make, but hopefully it'll do. It's been a long, fun ride, kids, but it's over now. Hope you had as much fun as I did. Geez, why am I talking like this is the last thing I'll ever write. I need to shut up. So, allow me to refer you to my other fic "Of Angels and Demons", what I'm hoping will be a true masterpiece. With that note, I'll leave you now. Catch you next fic! ~Dark Raion 


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